Resistance is Survival
by Abyssal Angel
Summary: What's a man to do when he's dropped off on a dead planet with only an atmosphere to its name, and a book with a mysterious message? Why survive of course! And try not to go crazy! And maybe hitch a ride off world while he's at it! But alas, if only things were that simple... DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it! I only own myself. I'd like to keep it that way, thanks.
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to find myself in a desert. The sun is scorching, and the sand sticking to my back as I sit up and cover my eyes is uncomfortable.

I jolt and groan as something I hadn't been aware was laying on my chest slipped off my torso and fell into my lap. To make matters worse, I'm stark naked.

Wincing as I held my bruised jewels, I opened my eyes, blinking back tears of pain to look at the object of my ire. A book.

Finally once the pain has faded some, I picked up the book and contemplated chucking it as far as I could in anger, but my desire to figure out just what the heck is going on overpowers that.

Opening the book, a bright flash of light blinds me and I toss the book away as I shield my eyes. Once I'm sure the light is gone, I lower my arm. The book is still there, though partially embedded in the sand. Gingerly, I go over and pick it back up.

Hesitantly, I look inside, only to blink. The book only consists of a single page.

_Dear Matthew!_

_Congratulations! You've been picked for a challenge! The name of the game is survival! I've left you on a barren world and its your job to get off it and make it back home!_

_I'm not joking about the barren part. Literally nothing there. Just a ball of rock and dust. I was tempted to drop you off on a completely dead planet, but I wanted to make this challenge interesting, not impossible!_

_Now, I know what you're thinking. How am I supposed to survive on a barren planet with no food or water that's only half the size of my home planet's moon?_

_Well, the simple answer is: don't worry about it. I'm sure you noticed that bright flash of light right? That was me giving you a bit of a twist. You'll survive. Probably. It's up to you to figure out how. I'm sure you'll figure out the gift I gave you soon. _

_In fact, you should be feeling it right about now._

I blinked. In fact, I could feel something. It felt like a creepy crawling sensation on the back of my arms.

Turning it over, I blinked as I noticed that my veins were starting to darken from the point of contact from the book and was spreading down at a slow, but visibly noticeable, rate.

"What's happening to me?" I asked, my eyes wide in panic.

I looked back to the book for answers.

_Don't worry, it'll become obvious what it is soon enough. You'll probably freak out, but don't worry, you won't die from shock or anything. That would be stupid and a waste of the effort I put into this._

_And don't take my earlier words out of context. You can still die. Quite easily in fact. In all the normal ways too. You just get a grace period for a little bit. Once that's up... Well, I'm sure you'll figure out quite easily how to get yourself food and shelter and all that jazz. You're not an idiot. _

_As for why I'm doing this? Eh... boredom? Honestly, your life is what you make of it. I'm just making it a bit more interesting for you. I do have my reasons though. Once you see where you are... Well, I'll be interested to see what choices you make in the future. Maybe you'll impress me. Maybe not. We'll see._

_Good luck!_

By this point my arms were shaking as I dropped the book. My veins were getting steadily more grey and the veins in my hands almost appeared black. It felt like ice. I could feel it travelling through my chest and up my neck, and it was making me feel both hot and cold at the same time.

It felt like it was getting hard to breathe.

I didn't know what to do. The book said I wouldn't die, but whoever left the message could've been lying.

And what was all that crap about watching me? I got dropped off here naked because they were bored and wanted to see what I would do? Bunch of cryptic bullcrap!

I don't know how long I lay there. I felt cold inside and hot outside and I couldn't stop shaking. I felt nauseous and had a headache and sore everywhere the cold touched, which after a while proved to be everywhere. I made a mental note to myself if I ever ran into the person who did this to me, I'd kick them where it hurts. Repeatedly.

I think in a desperate bid to think of anything to get my focus off of my body, I recalled how easily I burned in the sun. If the planet is really barren and nothing but this rocky desert, I may as well take advantage of the sand I'm currently lying in.

Struggling for each movement and counting it as a victory, I did a snow angel impression, then partially sat up and slowly, jerkily, covered sand over myself. It was slow going, and my muscles protested as they felt like they kept locking up. Not cramping, persay, but just going stiff, like they were turning into rods or something.

Eventually, I got the sand covering my lower half, which still felt unbearably warm, but at least I was protected from the sun for now. I lay back down and worked to cover my torso, then I laid back and put the book over my head, which just barely covered it, then did my best to cover my arms.

I think it was something like half an hour later that I felt a pinch in my chest and suddenly the ice turned into fire.

Mercifully enough, at that point I blacked out.

A/N: Been sitting on this one for a while. Well, been sitting on a number of unfinished fics for a while actually... This one was just one of the ones I really liked and decided to pick back up and post.


	2. Chapter 2

I next came to with a gasp.

I blinked confusedly up at the book, which had miraculously stayed over my face. The sun isn't bright anymore from the light filtering through the crack between my face and the book above and below my perspective.

Oddly enough, the pain is gone. There's no soreness, and my head feels completely pain free. In fact, I feel... surprisingly pretty good.

Wait scratch that, my mouth feels like the desert. Figuratively and literally. I sat up and turned to the side, spitting sand out of my mouth and noting how thirsty I am. My stomach is also no longer feeling nauseous and instead has given way to a feeling of hunger.

I look down to take stock of myself visually, and if I could have paled, I would have.

My skin is stark white. Like chalk. Any hint of human like pink has disappeared. My veins also still stand out a solid black against the white of my skin, and almost more alarming, the black lines of my vein have branches from them that weren't there before, and while those branches are thinner, they don't follow the appearance of veins at all. Instead they look like a maze. I'm almost reminded of that crossroad puzzle that appeared on Tony Stark's skin when he had palladium poisoning in Iron Man 2.

I grasped at my head with both hands, sand falling away as the weirdest sensation entered my head. I blinked as the world around me brightened and dimmed, before a vertical line passed over everything, almost like a scanner bar.

I think of a video game hud starting up upon seeing it, and to my shock, the instant I think it, another weird feeling pulses in my head, and a translucent box appears in my vision, with a single word dimming and brightening intermittently inside.

_Interfacing..._

I watched in shock as a sidebar full of 1's and 0's apeared on the side of my vision and scrolls down, before an honest to goodness targeting reticle appeared and seemed to cycle through various styles I recognized from different video games before disappearing.

Another pulse from inside my head, and the box that said interfacing disappeared. The box full of 1's and 0's cleared and then text appeared in the box.

_You're not crazy._

What?

_To put it simply, I am something like your subconscious communicating to you. Only your subconscious now consists of a hell of a lot more than just controls for your heart beating, lungs breathing, stomach digesting, kidneys filtering, etc. _

How is this possible, I wondered.

_The grey lines on your skin that first appeared. I know you know of something that would tell you exactly what it is, but at the same time, you'd be wrong. I'm suppressing that realization for now so you don't freak out on me and try to reject me or something stupid like that. You need to take this calm and rational like, the way you prefer. And yes, I am responding to your thoughts._

Oh. I was just about to ask that. I don't like the idea of whatever this is suppressing anything, but from the sound of things, I'd probably freak out, so I suppose I'm grateful for that much.

_You ready? I'd rather just avoid the freak out, but I don't think that's possible, and believe it or not, I'm actually acting in your best interest. If you commanded me to remove the block, which I was obligated to inform you of, by the way, I would do it. It's just I want you to keep in mind that while this is the quickest way to answer most of your questions about what you are now, you'd also be wrong, so please do me a favor and let me clarify before you do something stupid, please. Now, are you ready for me to remove the block?_

I took a deep breath and let it out. I'm ready.

_Ok. Think Star Trek._

I felt a strange feeling in my head, like something was falling away, and the next instant I leaped to my feet and away, looking down at myself in horror.

"HOLY #$%, I'M A BORG!?"

10 Minutes Later...

I finally calmed enough to notice that a number of new messages had appeared in the box on the right side of my vision and I turned my focus to it, feeling a bit guilty as I read down the lines.

_Calm down! _

_You're not a Borg! _

_I told you, your first realization would be wrong for the most part!_

_*sigh* You're not even paying attention anymore._

_..._

And finally a new line appeared.

_Are you finally done?_

I nodded, chagrined.

_Good. If you remember before you so promptly freaked the #$% out, I told you that while your realization would answer a lot of questions, you would also be WRONG. You are not a Borg. _

_That doesn't mean you AREN'T though. _

_No, don't freak out! Just keep calm, and listen. Or read, as the case may be. I'd speak to you audibly, but I don't want you questioning your own sanity any more than you already are, and hearing voices in your head has always been synonymous with crazy._

I nodded at that.

_Right. All you are is a human with nanites. For now. Thing is, these Nanites are pretty darn modular. They can do quite a lot. If you really wanted, you could have them replicate the whole 'Borg' thing and start your own Collective. Don't lie to yourself, I know you thought about it once or twice, what with that story you wrote about becoming Overmind of the Swarm. At least you have a subconscious interface that'll answer your questions._

Yeah, about that...

_Yeah, the only reason I exist is mainly so that the nanites have a way to interface with you. They're kinda pointless if there's nothing there to command them, and you already have a command interface available to you. Your brain. Don't bother trying to strain yourself thinking about it, but I'm essentially you answering your own questions since I'm interfaced with the nanites and can tell you exactly what they can and can't do, based on your conscious decisions on what to do with them._

I... see... I think? Whatever. So what are these nanites, and what are they doing right now?

_Like I said earlier, the nanites are modular. individually they can't really do jack, but when they link up to each other? Oh, that's where the versatility begins. What the nanites are, exactly, are the tiniest of machines, less than a hundred atoms in size, and there are, on average, one per molecule within your entire body. _

_As for what they're doing, I'll sum up because we'd be here for a couple years if I gave you a full comprehensive report to read. I could just make the knowledge directly available to the part of your brain that counts as your conscious state, but quite frankly, that part of your mind isn't made to handle that kind of information and I'd just end up burning out those neurons, making you technically brain dead. You could be... rebooted I suppose, but it'd be like rolling back to a point before you received the information in the first place, so it'd be less than pointless._

Wait, if you can do that, what's to say you haven't already tried, and you're talking to my rebooted self?

_Well for one, I'd tell you if that happened. I'd rather not have that happen though since it'd be wasting time and you have some decisions to make. I realize you don't trust me completely, which is fair, but for what it's worth, I promise I will never lie to you. I may very well hold you back from realizing something to protect you, but only until I've explained why so you don't do something detrimental to your existence or health._

_Now, on to the summary. Currently, all the nanites are doing at the moment can be considered your neutral state. Basically they're just assisting in keeping you alive in the ways that are necessary to do so without wholly removing themselves from your system. A given example of this would be that they've augmented your musculature to deal with the fact that you now have roughly twice the mass you did before. The rest of what they're doing follows along those lines, essentially making sure your body runs much the same way it did before so that you don't experience a systemic collapse just from having nanites in your system. That would kinda run counter to their purpose._

And what is their purpose?

_Whatever you want. Currently that is following your base biological instincts as best they can, such as survival, hence why they're working to keep you alive and not harmed from their presence. Anything else is a conscious decision you have to make. _

I blinked. So if I gave the order for the nanites to off myself or purge from my system?...

_The shock of it would possibly kill you, and until you hit a point where you could make informed decisions, the nanites were programmed to simply keep you alive. If you ordered them to purge from your system safely, they probably would, but seeing as I'm you, I can tell you quite handly that you already know that that would be a rather stupid idea. You want to live, and unless you abruptly decide you don't want that anymore, trying to live without the nanites would be a very short lived endeavor. _

What do you mean?

_How long do you think you'd survive on a barren planet, buck naked, with no food or water or shelter to speak of?_

I grimaced, seeing it's- my- _it's_ point. Geez, that's gonna get confusing.

_Tell me about it._

Shaking my head, I put aside the ponderings of literally agreeing with myself, and tried to think of what to do now. Cause my subconscious has a point. How am I going to survive? I need the big three. Food, water, shelter, and two of those don't even exist on that planet, unless I can eat sand.

I blinked. Wait... Could the nanites reassemble other atoms into the nutrients I need?

_Yes, that's doable. There's a couple steps involved first that you have to approve, but it can be done._

What steps?

_Well, first, the nanites need to be able to replicate. Up to this point, the nanites were just...__** appearing **__**out of nothing**__ somehow until there was enough to have just about one nanite per molecule of your body. At that point, no more appeared. In order to make more, a number of nanites will have to assemble into a replication implant or two, how large and how many will determine how quickly the amount extra that you need at any given time will be created. _

Implants? Like... Borg implants? I winced at the mental image of myself growing metal pieces on my skin in a way that looked rather painful.

_Exterior implants aren't generally necessary unless you want the nanites to do something that requires projecting out from your body, like exo armor or something. It's a pretty logical conclusion though that the Borg of canon Star Trek must've had implants inside themselves as well as on the outside. You are right though that there is a catch. Something can't spring from nothing. While the nanites can assemble themselves into a replication implant, creating more nanites will require fuel and they can't exactly just create mass from energy._

_Which brings us to another problem. Currently, the nanites are running off of two main power supplies. Thermal and solar. That's part of the reason why your skin appears to be so white. It's a side effect of the layer of nanites on top of your skin that are currently absorbing the excess heat and solar radiation pounding on your skin. So congratulations, you'll never have to worry about a sunburn ever again._

_As it is though, this current state of energy absorption is enough to run the nanites as they are, but if you want implants that do more than what the nanites are doing currently, you'll need a power source._

Huh. That actually explains why the Borg need recharge stations in a way. Are you sure I'm not Borg?

_You could be. It's your choice how you go about things. While the nanites can assemble and do nanite like things and alter your biology, that's about all they can do currently. If you come across some tech or make something that works, the schematics will be stored down to the atomic level simply enough though. It's all up to you._

Right, so... I couldn't just sprout chlorophyll or grow my own solar panels huh.

_Do you know the chemical composition of chlorophyll or how to make solar panels?_

Nope.

_Then no, unless you experiment and stumble across the answer yourself, that's not gonna happen._

Well crap. Wait, if I have to know how things are made already... I don't exactly know the chemical composition of food. How am I going to sustain myself?

_Lucky for you, I have the schematics for everything your nanites... 'scan' for lack of a better term. That includes you, and you already have a large amount of what you need to survive, at least for the next three days. You already know the chemical composition for water, so it's simple enough to pull hydrogen and oxygen from the air you're breathing. You currently feel thirsty because you're not drawing in all that much. Again, a few things are needed that you need to give the OK for and those parts are important._

And I already have numerous chemicals and nutrients in me that serve as fuel for my body so I, through the nanites, would already know what kind of fuel I'd need to survive. Fair enough. What needs the ok?

_Well, the big thing outside of a replication implant are implants for processing materials outside the body, such as oxygen and hydrogen for water, and the sand itself for minerals and just atoms in general that can be reassembled into what you need. Currently you can already absorb exterior materials, but at a rate too slow to keep you alive, much less anything else you might want to do. And... yes, the catch is that it will hurt. The fuel needed to create the nanites flowing through the replication implant has to come from somewhere, namely fat stores, and while the process of removing fat deposits would mostly just feel weird, the exterior implants to process exterior material would hurt once deployed until the signaling nerves are bypassed._

How much hurt are we talking?

_Uh... without any prior experience... I'd simulate that it would feel a lot like getting a really bad sting._

Joy. And you can't... 'bypass' the nerves first?

_Not at the moment. That kind of thing can be worked in as a subroutine, but right now the nanites can only do what they're currently programmed. I can't exactly program them to do something else without having any true idea of what exactly will happen outside of what I can simulate. The nanites won't deliberately harm you, but an exterior implant jutting from your skin does technically count as damaging your skin, so I won't lie and say that it won't hurt, but... well, to put it simply, the more often you get implants that displace nerves, the more examples I'll have to counteract those nerves to bypass the signals so you won't feel it anymore. That's about the best I can explain it._

So in a nut shell, the more implants I get, the less it'll hurt?

_Pretty much._

I see. And won't the replication implant hurt?

_Not as much. You'll feel it, but nerves in the skin are more sensitive by nature. _

And where are these implants going to be placed?

_The implants for processing exterior material can be placed anywhere, but you'll probably want them on the palm of your hand or hands. As for the replication implant... I will preface the answer by telling you again that the nanites are programmed to follow your orders, and will do everything they can to keep you alive and not be detrimental to your health. So no, it is not a bad thing where this implant would be placed. In fact, it is the most efficient location for the implant, since it makes use of what nature has already provided you as the quickest way to get nutrients from your body and move new nanites to your body._

Where?

_Your heart._

My immediate reaction was worry, but I deliberately calmed myself, quickly scanning what was already written, and I had to concede the point. Blood is the quickest highway and is deliberately made to get nutrients around the body in the first place. It's a bit alarming to think of something, anything really, messing with my heart, but my subconscious has a point.

Ok, my heart. And it won't be detrimental to my health and won't hurt, right?

_That is correct. As I said earlier, you'll feel it for a moment, but you won't after that._

I sighed. Alright. How long will it take to do this?

_Not long. Once you accepted, the nanites began their work. You should feel something in a few moments._

I waited after reading that, and true to its word, I felt a tightness in my chest that vanished almost as soon as I felt it.

_Not so bad, right? Now for the exterior material processing implants. Did you want those on your palms?_

Actually... if this is for food purposes, can't I just get an implant or two in my stomach lining? Everytime I breath, air goes into my lungs and stomach, so can't it process what I breathe or eat?

_Do you plan on eating sand?_

I grimaced at the thought, then considered. If the nanites can block the receptors and nerves of my taste buds and mouth so I don't taste it or notice the texture, I could probably handle- ugh - eating sand.

_Want me to test if I can do that?_

As soon as I decided in the affirmative, my mouth felt curiously numb for a moment, and I blinked at the strangeness of suddenly loosing the taste of the interior of my own mouth for a moment a few times. It's not something I'd ever really consciously noticed, but the interior of my mouth does have a taste. I spent a few moments marveling over that, then snorted, wondering if this is what a stoner examining their own hand feels like.

_Amusing as that is, I would advise against consuming anything directly harmful to your person. While the nanites can counteract a lot of damage, especially in tandem with your own already existing organs, best not to test it in case something harmful proves to be too much, yeah?_

I agreed with that assessment. The ability to 'reboot' my conscience or not, I'm pretty sure getting shot in the head would still count as a mortal wound.

_Yeah, the nanites could rebuild the damage eventually, but depending on the damage to your brain, I wouldn't be able to roll back your conscience if your stored 'backup' is destroyed too._

I don't suppose a small backup memory couldn't be created and stored elsewhere in my body just in case could it?

_What, like a secondary brain? That would be... doable actually, depending on where you want it. While the body is flexible, you don't have too much space available in here._

What about increasing my overall size as needed, that way I'd have more room in my innards for stuff like that? In fact, could more space be made by streamlining a few organs or making them more efficient?

_Yes, to both questions, though the former would require quite a bit of fuel for the process, and the latter can only go so far without another set of example organs to 'scan', and that'll only help if the organs you scan are more efficient than the ones you already have._

_...Unless you want to have less efficient organs for some reason. I'd be obligated to ask why, but that's doable if you really want it._

Um. No thanks. While taking what my subconscious said to the logical conclusion means I could potentially turn myself into a dog or a cat or a tiger if I wanted, I'd rather not if it makes me worse than I am currently.

_Some animals might be useful though. Retractable claws under your current nails or a set of fangs with venom glands might be useful if nothing else._

Guess I'll keep that in mind. So about the implants for my stomach. Would those work well enough for providing for my dietary needs, or would I absolutely need a set in my lungs too or on the outside of my body?

_Yes. While not ideal, a single implant or two in your stomach would keep you alive and the replication implant fueled for the most part, provided you don't do something crazy like make bricks made purely of nanites. Putting one or two in your lungs would require reinforcing the lungs themselves in a way they're not designed for. It could be done, but it wouldn't be easy._

I see... Wait, if these implants can absorb material directly from the outside... the whole point of the lungs and stomach is to process oxygen and such in the atmosphere for breathing, and to digest and move nutrients into my blood, all of which could be bypassed with these implants. Wouldn't that mean that my lungs and digestive system would become redundant?

_Yeah, for the most part. Redundancies aren't necessarily a bad thing, in case your nanites fail for some reason. _

True, but is that likely? Even without the nanites, my stomach and lungs could fail due to disease or illness like cancer anyway, and all humans have to live with that. Even having the capability of a redundancy at all for something so fundamental as breathing is a bit far out of the norm.

As I processed this, my brain went down a side tangent as I wondered what I'd look like if breathing and eating became redundant and I just removed everything needed for those to make room. I realized with a start that I'd probably look like Neo from the Matrix when Agent Smith removed his mouth, or kind of like a Protoss from Starcraft.

I think... I'll save the decision of removing redundant organs for if it ever becomes necessary. For now, I'll accept redundancies. I'll have the two implants put on my palms, so long as they can be made low profile somewhat... Actually no. I'd rather they be put on the back of my hands, provided they're placed over the bony parts like my knuckles. If they're on my palms, there'll be a dead spot and a bump on my palms that'll inevitably bother the crap out of me. At least if it's on the back of my hands and disguised somehow, I don't think I'll care much.

As soon as I'd decided, a pressure on the back of my hand built up on the parts of my hand where my knuckles and bones on the back of my fingers were. Abruptly my hand stung like crazy for a moment before dulling again as I saw a silvery version of my bones protrude through my skin, before becoming porous and then camouflaging to look the same as my hands did before in those spots; white and black veins.

Actually, I don't suppose my skin could be camouflaged to look the way my skin used to?

_That would be ill advised. The pigment itself is part of the system used to absorb solar and thermal energy, and yes, white is the necessary color, not black. I'd explain why, but I know for a fact that you don't have the conscious knowledge required to understand even a tenth of it. It'd be like explaining calculus to a third grader. Sure, they've been doing addition and subtraction, but outside of recognizing numbers, the rest of the words would be gibberish. Suffice to say, until a new method is developed to gain energy for the nanites to use for power, you're stuck as you are, and that includes being unable to wear clothing, provided it isn't some kind of biological exo armor that is white from solar/thermal absorption due to your nanites._

I... guess it doesn't really matter. I hadn't really thought about it, but I don't really feel hot since I woke up. I don't know if that means I won't feel cold either, but that pretty much means needing clothing as protection from the elements isn't exactly necessary, though I do file away the idea of growing a set of bio-armor as needed in case I need more protection than skin can provide, like sand blowing at hundreds of miles per hour. Or shrapnel from things moving at high speed. Hey, just thinking ahead. Gotta get off the planet right? That means I need a rocket or something, and rockets can explode.

Baby steps though. I've no idea how I'll build a rocket or whatever to get off this rock. And survival comes first.

Speaking of cold, the sun has started to dip below the horizon. Deserts have a nasty rep for being extremely hot during the day and extremely cold during the night. Not only will there be little to no solar or thermal energy to absorb, but I could freeze to death if my nanites can't keep me warm enough to survive the night.

_Yeah, that's another reason you need to make decisions quickly. It's a good thing you read fast, else it might've already hit nightfall already by this point. As it is, your best bet at this juncture will probably be to go dormant during the night. With the new implants on the back of your hands, if you bury yourself beneath the sand, you'll be able to survive since I can cut the instinct to breathe off and lower your body's state of activity low to allow for conservation of energy without threatening hypothermia, and once the temperature starts to rise again with the day, you can be awakened and dig back to the surface._

Uh... show me what that feels like? As soon as I thought that, I abruptly ceased to feel the need to breathe. So I... didn't. I didn't feel lightheaded, I didn't feel an ache in my lungs. It was weird to say the least.

Still though, time's a wasting. The sun is going down, and it's getting colder. I abruptly set about digging into the sand as fast as I could. I'm not sure how far down I should go, but I figure about three feet should do it at most.

It's not easy work though, using just my hands. I don't feel sore, nor am I sweating or panting, all of which my subconscious informs me is due to the nanites. The hard part is that my hands just aren't big enough nor are they efficient for digging like a shovel is. By the time I get far enough down that I can start focusing on digging out sideways so I can lay down, it's starting to get noticeably colder. I feel fine so far since I always preferred the cold anyway, but the temperature hasn't stopped dropping, and the winds which had been buffeting me this whole time are starting to hit shiver inducing temperatures, not that I'm shivering either, once again thanks to the nanites.

Eventually though I did get deep enough and wide enough that I could lay down somewhat curled up and start burying myself with sand. It was disconcerting, and on my request, I had the nanites block certain chemicals in my brain to keep me from panicking from the fact that I was essentially _burying myself alive._

I'd gotten somewhat used to not breathing by the time I had the sand layered over my chest. This felt somewhat similar to when I'd covered myself earlier today. But that was just a somewhat thin layer though. This is almost a grave.

I started covering my head after closing my eyes, and tried not to pay attention to how uncomfortable it was and how it was getting harder to move my arms. Eventually though I had my head covered, and had to shift my elbows back and forth to work my arms beneath the surface. It took some effort, but it worked, though I didn't get my hands all the way down. With the way I'd buried myself, I probably look ridiculous with my legs curled and my hands partly extended skyward. Still, I'm buried, and there's some residual warmth left. One command later and I began to drift off as I went dormant.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up shivering. It was hard to move and I couldn't see. I panicked.

I wrestled my way up and out, feeling sweet relief as my face met open air, and the rays of the rising sun. It was at that point I gasped as the reminder to breathe kicked in. I'd forgotten that my need for that had been shut off.

I realized then that I'd pretty much forgotten a lot of things in my brief panic, but now everything came rushing back, and I let out of whoosh of air in a sigh.

I looked towards the sunrise, and noted idly I still didn't feel hot or cold, though my shivers were starting to taper off. It was strange in a way. I could tell that I'd been cold, but I didn't _feel_ cold.

Shaking my head of the strange sensation, or lack thereof, I focused on more important things, like the line of text that'd just appeared in the box to the right of my vision.

_Good morning. I see that I was right in guessing you'd panic your way out of the ground and not pay attention to the screen. Is this going to become a habit?_

I sighed and shook my head. Maybe if it made the words more noticeable or something, I thought only half serious.

_Riiiight. The big flashing words blinking in front of your eyeballs aren't noticeable enough. _

I shrugged. I had no response to that other than perhaps, touché.

Looking around at the dunes and cracked rock around, I grimaced. What do I do now?

_What is your goal?_

I read the words and considered. What is my goal? Assuming the book had been right, then I'm not even on Earth. It's not hard to suspend my disbelief in that regard considering everything else that's happened. In that case, my goal should be to get myself off this rock, just as the message suggested.

If it's a lie, however...

I looked around, scanning the horizon and the sky. If this is another planet, there should be some tells, things that are just... _off_ from how they should be on Earth.

The sun is pretty much the same as far as I can tell. The sky though... isn't blue. Not really. It's more kind of an arid yellow/brown, but that may just be from the dust and crap blowing around.

My eyes followed the horizon. I was testing to see how much the curve compared to how it does on Earth, before scoffing at myself. I've never memorized the curvature of the Earth. How the heck am I supposed to be able to tell?

The stars and the moon might be able to tell me more, but that would require surviving a night under open sky in the desert. Not a likely proposition.

I grimaced as I considered my options. My goal is to get off this world or at least get a vantage point that would allow me to confirm whether I really am on Earth or not. I'm buck naked in the middle of sand and rock with a bunch of nanites and three implants, two of which are colored over, but basically feel as though my hand bones and knuckles are jutting out of my skin.

Anything I do, it's basically going to fall back to anything and everything I can think of to do with these nanites.

First things first, I do NOT want to spend another night buried. That'll be my first short term goal. I need shelter to survive nightfall, whether that be a cave or some sort of structure. Considering the rock and sand around me, I'd probably be better off at first just shaping my environment. But can I even do that?

A quick deliberation with my subconscious showed me that I could. It just wouldn't be very fast.

Well, it's not like I don't have time. My worst enemy at this point is boredom. At least I have someone to talk to, sort of.

First though, a bit of deliberation made me realize that in order to pull off what I'm thinking, a few tweaks are in order.

Staying seated, I waited, holding in any winces of pain as my hands became coated in silver along with my feet. Still I watched, fascinated despite the occasional stings and feeling of small tearing, as the silver color disappeared, recoloring to look like my hands and feet from before. I even still had feeling through them to a degree, though it felt more akin to a sense of touch through gloves and socks. I was assured that could be fixed over time, but for now, the biggest issue is out of the way.

Both of my hands and feet are now essentially four massive flexible implants, ones for direct creation of nanites, the processing of materials, and the reconstruction of materials.

With the little amount of power I have available, it's still not fast going, but there's still something to be said about pressing your hand to solid rock and sand, and watching it disappear in much the same manner as an ice cube contacting a hot pan.

While I did this, the nanites ate and reused the mass available, not really able to store it in any effective manner. Simply put, what I was doing at this point was just displacing sand and rock, 'pushing' it around and leaving a hardened shell behind.

Doing this, I carved out what I hoped would be a decent shelter, putting up an igloo like dome of hardened rock with an entrance, which I'd unashamedly based off of the moisture farmer homestead from Star Wars, and started tunneling down, slowly but surely shaping stairs and reinforcing the ceiling and walls with intermittent arches.

once I felt I'd gone deep enough, I leveled off for a few feet, before ascending a few steps back up to start the process of creating a simple room with a domed ceiling, making sure to harden everything. It's my hope that the dip down before going up into the room will prevent any sand that might blow in from making it up into the room itself, and so far it seems to be working. Sand had already blown in from the wind, leaving a fine dusting on the floor, but none of it has risen high enough to enter the room I'm making, and by all rights it shouldn't ever, even if enough sand blows in to choke off the entire entrance, since I'd risen the room above the ceiling height of the dip. I'd almost liken it to the U-bend leading to the grease trap of a sink. Even if a flood of water were to come in, or sand as the case may be, I should be fine in this bubble of a room.

The only problem I hadn't immediately thought of how to deal with that came up is just how dark it is down here. Light is filtering from the entrance, but it's a paltry amount, barely allowing me to see.

Thankfully, becoming aware of this situation, two solutions did come to mind. One is using mirrors to bounce light down into the room, much like the ancient Egyptians did, which was shown to great effect in a scene from The Mummy Trilogy. Making mirrors would be a touch difficult but not impossible, surprisingly enough.

The second option was to increase my low light sensitivity. That was actually the easiest, though it did feel weird when the nanites manipulated my pupils and the iris around it to open as wide as possible. that didn't prove enough though so several clusters of nanites were made to form copies of the nerves of light receptors in the back of my eye, essentially quintupling the amount of photoreceptors available.

This had several immediate benefits. The biggest one being that the receptors couldn't be burnt out normally, and could switch on and off depending on the amount of light available. This results in near instantaneous adaptation to low light, along with a kind of 'control' over how bright everything is since the receptors could filter bright light while seeing in the dark. In a nut shell, I could now see inside the room as if it were daytime without being blinded by looking directly at the light source.

The one immediate, though thankfully temporary, downside was the pain. Installing hardware into your eyeball without anesthesia stings like nothing else. The only relief was that it would only need to occur once as the more 'examples' of my nerves firing off that I could process, the better control I, my subconscious that is, gained over that area in regards to pain. On a side note this is how I could know that I'm cold or hot or warm without actually feeling it, since my subconscious is filtering the sensations for me, only letting through the 'knowledge' alone, for lack of a better word.

By the time I finished with this, most of the day had gone by.

Thanks to the 'gloves' and 'socks', I had no feeling of hunger or thirst. I still had an implant in my stomach, but mostly my nanites converted sand and spare rock into the nutrients and water that I needed to survive throughout the day, and boy was the implications of that trick a doozy.

"So wait, the nanites can convert atoms of sand into something else, something nutritious for me, by rearranging the protons, neutrons, and electrons directly?" I asked, by this point talking to myself aloud to simply hear something other than the stupid wind whistling and howling into my shelter.

_In the simplest of terms, yes._

"So to put it another way, the nanites are splitting atoms." I asked, just to clarify.

_Yes._

"O...k... last I checked, splitting atoms tends to release massive amounts of energy. Maybe only little bits for each individual one, but certainly enough together all at once that a good chunk of the entire population of Earth runs off the energy byproduct of this, AND to top it off, the byproduct of the effect is generally radioactive and highly dangerous. And this is happening. Right now. Inside me? Are you serious?!" I asked, my voice getting a little high pitched at the end.

_Sigh._ Yes, that's right, my subconscious actually wrote out the word 'sigh'. I felt my eyelid twitch slightly in response.

_I'm going to explain this in a way so that your brain doesn't suffer systemic collapse trying to understand, since the science is, again, a little bit hard to swallow without a lot of foreknowledge available, alright?_

I nodded.

_To put it simply, I will make an analogy using building blocks. Building blocks in this instance are atoms. You and I both know that a nuclear reaction, whether controlled or used as an explosive, is basically the equivalent of taking a couple hundred blocks, throwing them at a larger pile of blocks, which knocks into a larger pile of blocks, and so on and so forth. In a... 'controlled' fashion, this chaos can be released all at once as a bomb, or sustained by basically tossing a few blocks at a time, knocking the pile into the bigger pile a little at a time. _

_This still results in one thing though either way. A huge mess._

I nodded, following so far.

_Radioactivity as you know it is, to put it simply, a byproduct of this huge mess laying around. There's nothing to clean it up or make sure it __**doesn't happen in the first place.**__ To contrast, what the nanites are doing is more akin to those children who build their block towers and shapes to keep them stable, and use the left over parts where necessary to add stability or simply keep them out of the way. Understand?_

I quirked my lips. "So you're saying Einstein and the scientists after him are the snot nosed brats who knock over the towers for fun, just to get a reaction?"

_Quite._

I think even my subconscious is amused by the idea. I spent the next few minutes chuckling as I worked, imagining a 6 year old Einstein and other white haired chibis going around knocking down block towers and pretending to write down their findings on little notepads and tiny white labcoats.

After a while though, I frowned thoughtfully. "It's true though that a lot of power can be gained from *snort* knocking those towers down. If the nanites are already capable of building the towers, couldn't they knock them down in a 'controlled' manner for energy?"

_Perhaps, though they aren't programmed to. As such they, and more importantly I, have no idea what exactly the 'safe' process would be for such a thing, and I'm pretty sure you'd rather not spontaneously go up in a mushroom cloud by accident._

"Ah. Yeah, that would be bad," I said, sweatdropping mentally.

_Or become a ghoul... or a supermutant... or a rad monster of some sort... or_

"Ok, ok I get it!" I said, cutting the appearing words off.

A few moments later though, I said, "Still... that's a rather large energy source we're talking, one that could potentially run a spacecraft if harnessed properly. I agree it'd be a bad idea to do any experimenting inside my own body, but... what if it weren't inside my own body?"

_You mean building a large underground nuclear bunker and attached lab to conduct tests, essentially recreating the Manhattan Project?_

"Yeah..." I said slowly, "Do you think it could be done?"

There weren't any words for a while.

_First off... I'm not saying no. Bear that in mind when I follow up with telling you that is one of the most ludicrous ideas I've ever thought up. Not only was the Manhattan Project a meeting of the minds of the most brilliant scientists available who'd studied and gained doctorates in studies of such things, you're proposing that I, or you, take your pick of pronoun, it hardly matters here since you and I are the same person. I am proposing that I endeavor to recreate a project tackled by a group of brilliant scientists, a group that probably numbered in the hundreds in order to do properly and even remotely safely, on the off chance that I might be able to recreate their work, whilst not blowing myself up or irradiating myself to death if I even get that far. You are also aware that they did that work using equipment that was state of the art for their time, with electronics and computers and safety measures we couldn't even begin to understand let alone recreate. You don't even know how to make rubber, let alone whatever goes into one of those yellow biohazard suits, nevermind creating a suit that can protect you from radiation._

"Lead." I answered, realizing. "Lead blocks radiation. How about a solid suit of exo armor made of lead? Or a remote controlled drone full of nanites and made of lead?"

_At a simple guess, a lead robot or just a solid lead golem animated solely by nanites, even a lead suit that's solid with no cracks that's thick enough to protect you, would probably require the energy output of a nuclear power plant in the first place to move, let alone move in a manner that isn't stilted or jerky. How about instead of jumping straight to nukes, why not take a page from FTB Minecraft and follow a progression? Perhaps create steam power from coal and recreate copper wiring and lightbulbs before jumping to nuclear power and smart phones?_

"Point," I conceded, "But at the same time, I'd like to get off this planet and back to civilization sometime soon before I go crazy from isolation. You're better than Wilson, but I'd rather not end up following in the footsteps of Tom Hanks from Castaway. He at least had some modicum of hope for rescue, what with being on a deserted island on a habited world. This is, as far as I'm aware, an empty planet, population: me, and I have no idea if the greater galaxy is inhabited or not, so I'd rather not rely on that possibility. In fact..."

I trailed off as it hit me for the first time just how alone I am. Space is a vast empty lonely place... and I'm all alone on a barren world that any normal human being wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving on. It's not even been a day and I'm already talking to myself. What hope do I possibly have?

_Hey now, don't go down that road. You know optimism and keeping your eyes forward and your feet moving is the only way you're going to survive this. Despair will kill you just as surely as anything else can._

I nodded, sighing for what felt like the millionth time. "I know... It's just... hard, you know? What even is the point? Why put me through this crap? Just so I can entertain some bored random omnipotent being?... I need hope. You know the phrase, hope is simultaneously mankind's greatest strength and weakness. Without hope, hope for something better, something... more... what even is the point? What am I to live for?"

At some point I ended up sitting with my back to the gradually sloped wall, facing the entrance with my knees curled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs as I stared blindly at the sole light source of the room. I felt pathetic.

_Would you rather die?_

I snorted. "You know the answer to that already."

_Say it. Cause I think you need to reaffirm it to yourself._

I sighed. "Of course I want to die. A better life in the afterlife is one of the few things I have to hope for. Anything's better than this. But at the same time, offing myself is a sure fire way to make said afterlife worse than this one, so there's no way I'm going to kill myself and ruin my chances for something better. I'll struggle and do everything I can to survive, but that doesn't particularly mean I want to live either."

There wasn't any response for a few minutes after that.

_...Just what is it in the afterlife that would make it so much better than this one?_

I shrugged. "How should I know? That's the point of hope right? And faith for that matter. I don't know that it's better, I just know that I've been told that it's better. For all I know it's not, and I have no idea what could make it better. But I believe it will be, and entertaining that belief to be false is a surefire way for me to jump straight for a long fall off a cliff."

_Wouldn't that be counterproductive? IF the afterlife is worse, wouldn't it be smarter to find a way to prolong your life indefinitely?_

I hummed in thought at that. "You might be right. Though with how crappy life is, if the afterlife is no better or worse, I'd probably wish for reincarnation or to simply not exist. Perhaps I could get myself cryogenically frozen forever. That'd be about the same equivalent I bet. Still alive, but not dead. Not aware of anything. Limbo I suppose, but better than awareness of how much life can suck."

Again time passed before a response came.

_If you had to guess, what would you suppose might make life better in the afterlife than in this one?_

I shrugged. "Well, I've heard tell that making love, and proper making love at that, the connection there... I've heard that's supposed to be a glimpse of heaven. Not anything like just plain old sex, but actual marriage, and having a deep intimate loving connection to your spouse... There's something pure there. Something beautiful that gets perverted and destroyed so easily by only focusing on the carnal aspect of it. Outside of that small possible glimpse? I've got no clue. I've heard other guesses, but they just... I don't think they come close at all to what it is. I don't think it's possible to know, actually _know_ heaven, until you're already there."

A beat passed, then I asked curiously, "Why do you ask?"

_I'd shrug if I could. I mainly thought if you thought of what might make the afterlife better, you'd come up with some examples that you could aim to bring about. I do know that I'm a cuddle bug for one. It couldn't hurt to create some form of life, whether synthetic or otherwise, if only to have a companion to be with. The human condition is predisposed towards companionship, and without it, even a little bit, can be bad._

I snorted. "Shall I create a synth puppy or kitten then?" I laughed, "Isn't creating life supposed to be the hubris of man? Pride talking?"

_Do you believe that? Really?_

I sobered a little, before answering, "...no... Not really... the idea of creating life being wrong is stupid anyway. Humans make life all the time. Are supposed to make life. Where do people think babies come from? The stork? Plus the whole point of life is learning to be like God anyway so that we can become like him and return to him. If we really weren't supposed to be able to create life outside of more humans, then we simply wouldn't be able to. It's that simple... that's what I believe anyway." I finished with a sigh.

_Then perhaps your first goal should be to make a companion. Something to settle the natural herd instinct and anchor your sanity._

"I... suppose... but how? I mean, I don't have the first clue how to create a companion. Short of cloning myself, what options do I even have in that regard on a barren dust ball?"

_Not many that I know of. As it is, you're the one with the ideas and making the decisions. At most I'm the sounding board that can tell you if it can be done and to bounce ideas off of, and implement your decisions, that's all._

I nodded, thinking, as I idly brushed my hands over the floor, tracing patterns that would cause the stone to discolor, making lines of doodling. Looking at my artwork, I made a snap decision to kill time, and started using my hands, letting my will be the guide as I slowly formed up rock from the ground like a potter, then began using my hands and fingers to shape it.

It took a bit of effort, but the point was to waste time thinking, so I just worked on autopilot as the statue of rock began to take shape. It wasn't until I was forming the horn that I noticed what my hands had crafted and noted the equine shape beneath my hands and sighed.

It wasn't half bad actually, considering the nanites could form the image directly from my head of what it's supposed to look like, so it's not the vague four legged mess I might've made if I were actually trying to shape clay. It's not bad at all.

Now concentrating on my work more, I started forming the wings, deciding to actually make a recreation instead of just a random figure. It wasn't hard to discolor the stone to get a somewhat proper color. Pigmentation is part of the human body after all, and humans can range anywhere from white to yellow to red to brown to pink to black. It isn't much of a stretch to get other colors out of that if you understand that you can get green, orange, and purple out of red, yellow, and blue. Black is easy after mixing the pigments enough, and white exists in the color of the eye, so that's not impossible to get either.

As such, it wasn't long before I had a figurine statue of an Alicorn, white, with purple eyes and a long flowing mane that looked just strange as one solid piece, unmoving. A simple brush of the hand to the hooves removed the figurine from the floor, and I brought it up to eye level, smiling at it.

_Everyone needs a hobby I suppose._

I nodded. "I'll probably recreate memories. So I won't forget. Perhaps I'll make giant pixel art. The minecraft parallel you mentioned might actually help me if I do stuff like this, provided it doesn't take too long and I get bored."

_And if nothing else, perhaps aliens will see it and come investigate._

"Huh. Yeah. Bit of a stretch but maybe." I agreed, partly amused.

_More importantly, if you wish not to freeze or bury yourself again tonight, you still have some work to do._

"Right." I nodded, agreeing... with myself. Better than talking to inanimate objects though, right?

I already knew this wouldn't be enough though. I'd prefer not to rely on fire, since recreating fuel is a bit difficult without some prior examples to go on. Carbon may be a main ingredient but that doesn't mean I know how to make coal. Pretty sure it's not straight carbon anyway, and with my luck I'd probably end up making diamonds instead or something equally useless to me at the moment.

Insulation would be great, but other than piling up sand, not too sure how to go about that one.

in the end, I decided I'd need a second room from the first. It would serve as my bedroom, and it would need a door to block the wind. It'd be even darker in there, but I always preferred darkness to sleep in anyway.

Getting started, I began carving out a room identical to the first simply leading further on from the first room through a simple doorway, which I fashioned a slab of stone fitted to said doorway, which swung on one giant stone hinge, and locked in place with a very simple latch, also of stone. Maybe later I'd give fashioning metals a try, created from base elements. That should be interesting if nothing else.

Thankfully I can still see in this room. There is only the barest glimmer of light from a crack below the door, but it's enough to see by with my improved eyes and photoreceptors working away. This room I made into an exact replica of the room before, only this time I added a few things, like shelves built into the walls, upon which I set down my stone figurine of Princess Celestia. in one corner of the room, I raised up a pad of stone to serve as a frame for a bed, but then stopped, stumped as to what exactly I planned to use as bedding. No way in hell do I want to sleep directly on stone, and while powdering sand to a consistency that technically counts as soft, sleeping on it doesn't sound all that great unless I can encase it in something.

If only there was something soft that I could have my nanites recreate. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything...

Actually, that's not true. Fur is soft. Fur has always been soft. And fur is hair. Bad as it is, once I had shaved my beard off and left the hair alone on the floor, too lazy to vacuum it up. It ended up staying there for months, and every time I stepped in it, or glanced at it, I couldn't help but notice that it consistently felt soft to my feet despite the passage of time, nor did it look like it had degraded. And why should it? Fur blankets and coats don't just degrade after all. Not very quickly anyway as far as I'm aware.

I grimaced at the idea of what I was about to do, but I needed something, and unless I could miraculously recreate cotton or silk from nothing with no examples to go off of, this is the best I could do.

So, I willed the nanites in my hands to take sand and convert into hair. Specifically, my hair. For my peace of mind, I will consider it fur, and kept in mind the idea of having it be woven, particularly tightly since 'threadcount' is supposed to be a big deal. I'm actually kind of glad now for my experience with tactiles and sewing thanks to my mother, otherwise I might have no idea how to go about this. Thankfully I do know the basic pattern for basket weaving, and I applied that here, creating more and more until I had several sheets of woven fur, made silvery white to differentiate it further so I can pretend it's fur from something else.

Keeping it up, I kept creating large sheets of fur, piling them up on the stone slab and using my hands to layer them and tie the ends together. In the end I had several stacks of fur piled up and woven together to make a mattress, another, smaller set of furs piled together to make a pillow, and another, three layer thick set of furs for a blanket.

Giving it a test, I sat, then laid down. Just as I suspected, it's softer than it has any right to be. It's still weird to think about, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It's not my foam mattress from back in my apartment, but this'll do nicely. Plus with the lack of bugs on a barren world, and the nanites pretty much guaranteeing a lack of shedding or bacteria build up, I don't have to worry about the bedding getting dirty on me either, though a shower to wash the memory of being covered in sand away would be more than nice...

_I wouldn't do that if I were you._

I blinked. "What?"

_It's getting late. Creating an attached bathroom with what amounts to a tub of water would drain your energy reserves to dangerous levels if you wish to survive the night. In fact, I would highly suggest catching the last of the sun's rays before turning in tonight and avoiding use of the nanites for anything beyond simple living until the morning._

"Oh." A thought occurred to me thanks to what my subconscious said. "Do the nanites need anything beyond a power source to operate?"

_A guiding directive. Without that, they go dormant. Otherwise I'd be going over legal speak and closing loopholes with you in order to make sure any shed nanites don't become the next Replicator incident._

"Oh. Dang it. I was kinda hoping that maybe I could make a brick of nanites to leave out in the sun that could absorb and store energy like a battery..."

_That is actually about the only thing they could do without being connected to you in some fashion. Though you might be able to maintain a remote connection with nanites if you create a long range transmitter implant, but that is not something currently available to their programming._

"Is there anything else in the programming of the nanites available other than the replication and mass manipulation implants?" I asked curiously.

_No. Though I'm sure with some study of how they communicate and a bit of re-engineering radio communications or something to that effect, you could jury rig something over time._

"Maybe. That seems a bit of ways down the road though." I said thoughtfully, as I made my way outside to catch the last rays of the evening before sunset. "Would it be a huge problem if I pulled up a chair?"

_No, that should be simple enough, though I will tell you before you hit the point of it becoming a problem._

"Thanks," I said, before getting to work using my hands to raise a chunk of stone slowly from the ground next to the entrance of my new homestead. Without any padding or fabric, I made sure to try and make it form to my shape as best I could so that it wouldn't be too uncomfortable to sit in, and set it an incline so I could relax. It wasn't short work, and the sun was closer to setting once I'd finished, but it was enough.

_It's a good thing you have that new blanket and mattress now. Not much energy should need to be expended by the nanites to keep you warm this time._

"Was that a big problem last night? Also, were you... uh, 'awake' the whole time?" I asked curiously.

_It was not that big a problem, though you hadn't spent so much energy then as you did today either. Still, it would be preferred if an alternate power source such as that nanite battery you thought up were to be created tomorrow, in case of emergencies._

_As for being 'awake' as you put it, you should know the subconscious does not have a waking or asleep state like the conscious mind does. I do rest as you do when asleep, but that can be compared to a low energy state rather than being mostly unaware of the world around you like the conscious mind while sleeping. Does that answer your question?_

"Yeah, for the most part. I guess I just got confused since I can talk to you like a regular person for the most part, even if I'm only really reading your responses. It's easy to forget your my subconscious sometimes and not just another normal person." I explained.

_Well... As anything, that's up to you._

I frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

_As the subconscious is normally unable to communicate like this, you could consider it an upgrade from the nanites in order to be able to interface with you better. You remember that right?_

"Yeah...?" I half asked, half stated.

_Your will, as ever, controls the nanites, and as the interface between you and the nanites, your will affects me as well. I, and you, are aware of the concept of Tulpa. Mind constructs. You could just as easily order me deleted in order to interface with the nanites in some other fashion, or you could 'give me life' as it were. I do not suggest you use this as a way to achieve creating a companion though. I am, as ever, in your head, and superimposing myself over your senses like these HUD elements won't be enough. Like you realized with your online friends, conversation is all well and good, but physical presence and companionship is what you truly need. Even imposed on the senses, some part of you will always know I'm not actually there. And no, suppressing that realization won't be good for you in the long run._

I shrugged. "Just a thought anyway. Besides, I was never very good with the whole Tulpa thing. I'm either excellent at it, or really bad. I have no way to tell, thus I'm back to square one. might as well not go that route anyway, since you have a point."

With nothing else to ask, I and my subconscious lapsed into silence, watching the sunset.

Once the sun was gone, i stood up and made my way inside. I contemplated making a door for the entrance up top before making a mental note to consider it tomorrow.

Now back in my bedroom, I concentrated on the feeling of being clean since the nanites have already taken care of any sand or dirt clinging to my skin. I then got into bed and covered up, still marvelling at how surprisingly soft the bedsheets were.

With my subconscious' help, I once again drifted off, going 'dormant' as it were to wait for sunrise once again.


	4. Chapter 4

When I woke up the next morning, I felt lazy. It was still chilly and I was comfy bundled up in the blankets. I could see well enough due to the light of morning filtering in just the tiniest amount under the crack of my door. I willed my eyes to dim down so it wasn't as bright and I relaxed, letting my mind wander in that half awake state, feeling rather pleasant.

Shame it wasn't to last though. At least it was due to excitement.

I sat bolt upright in bed in shock. "That could work!"

I jumped out of bed even as my subconscious worked out the details and ran out the door and up the stairs. As expected, a thin layer of sand had settled on the steps and the bottom of the dip leading down from the entrance. I ignored that though. I had far more important things to do.

Stepping out into the sunshine, I closed my eyes as I felt refreshed, the new feeling stemming from my subconscious now filtering the feeling of how energized my nanites are so it wouldn't have to tell me visually each time. I could now feel directly how 'tired' and how 'energetic' the nanites are myself.

After a few moments basking in the sun, I snapped my eyes open and grinned.

"Time to recreate the Creep!" I said excitedly.

For effect, I stomped the ground, and immediately I could see fractal patterns of white growing across the ground from the point where my foot touched. Ok, so yes I may have borrowed the effect from Queen Elsa of Arendelle. How could I not when it looks so freakin cool?

I watched as my 'ice' spread across the ground and grinned. The idea is really quite simple really. My subconscious said that the nanites would go dormant if they weren't connected to me. With them all chained together like this and connected to my feet, thus subsequently connected throughout to the ones in my head, they're still guided by my will no matter how far they travel so long as I have one foot on the ground.

As for why it's white? Well, I remembered my subconscious explaining that my skin is white as a side effect of the nanites on top of my skin absorbing sunlight and redistributing it to all the other nanites. Essentially that's why. I'm creating a carpet of nanites across the top of this barren world, and they're getting the fuel for it by eating the sand that lands on it, carried by the wind, and leveling off the ground underneath as needed, while getting the power to spread from the sun as well as the thermal energy left off by it. Sooner rather than later, this whole planet is going to be a smooth white marble in space. Not only will that be eye catching, but it should give me the power needed for a great many things!

The only question is what. I haven't really gotten that far to be honest. Maybe some kind of huge winged construct, with the wings being huge sheets of nanites absorbing solar energy?

Wait, that just sounds familiar. Reminds me of the concept of Solar Sailers. I could try and recreate those from Tron, Treasure Planet, or John Carter. Though I'm more partial to the ones from John Carter really, I'll probably end up creating one that looks nothing like any of them, assuming it even works.

Actually there was one from Star Wars wasn't there? Something from the prequels I think. Didn't Count Dooku escape from a planet in one?

Shaking my head, I put aside the thought for now. The only thing I could do is test it later. Not even my subconscious could predict whether it would work or not. Too many unknowns that I'd just have to test for.

With nothing to do but wait for now, I walked over to my chair, subtly shaping it to be more comfortable and sat. It was a while later that I noticed something interesting. No more sand blowing into my face. There's still wind, but without the sand hitting me, it's a lot less noticeable now. I guess with the nanites forming a shell over the ground, the wind can't pick up any more.

Actually... I furrowed my brow as I wondered, how is there atmosphere on this planet at all? Isn't it barren? And what of the sun? Sure it feels hot, but I would've expected to have been fried off the planet if this were something like Mercury.

As I thought about it, I realized I could infer a few things. One, this planet is probably in the Goldilock's zone, which would explain why I wasn't deep fried already during the day, nanites or no.

Two... who's to say this is actually air I'm breathing?

_Me actually._

I blinked. "What can you tell me about the atmosphere?"

_I can tell you it contains just about everything you'd require to survive normally. Oxygen, hydrogen, trace amounts of nitrogen and other trace gases._

I frowned, confused. "How is that possible? That kind of atmosphere should require water and plant life. That's part of the reason people can't just breathe Mar's atmosphere. Is this planet not really barren after all?"

_That I cannot tell you. I'm certain you'll find out for sure eventually, since I can gain at least some rudimentary information from what the nanites interact with. It's not much without installing a nervous system and photoreceptors into the 'Creep' itself, but it's enough to tell me that so far, everything encountered is much the same as what you see around you._

"How long do you expect it will take to cover the planet?" I asked.

_No clue. I've no way to calculate how large this planet is, though if it's the same size as Earth... the Nanites aren't spreading much faster than walking speed. From what I remember from an old memory, it supposedly takes a whole month of walking to reach the edge of a Minecraft World from the center of the world. Considering A Minecraft world is significantly larger than Earth in terms of surface area..._

I nodded, "It could take up to a month, maybe less, maybe more, depending on this planet's size. Got it."

I sighed and looked back towards the homestead which had grown over with white, and I knew that the white would have spread down to cover the floor, walls, and ceiling of my shelter as well.

"Think I have enough power to run a bath now? Maybe even some plumbing?" I asked idly.

_Are you even aware how water is pumped through a piping system normally?_

I shrugged, "Nope. I figure a water tank with a turbine in it might create enough water pressure to push the water through stone pipes, though maybe I should think about creating actual metal pipes instead, or perhaps I'll just use carbon nanotubes for everything since I doubt solid iron pipes would be a good idea with rust, and I can only guess when it comes to alloys like steel. Any chance I can direct the nanites to do things from here, or do I still need to use direct hand contact?"

_You have enough power now, theoretically, to brute force things. I'll put up a bar in your vision so you're aware how much you can 'play' without interfering with the energy required to keep the nanites spreading across the planet's surface._

"Thanks," I said, grateful as a blue 'mana' bar appeared in the lower left corner of my sight.

I snorted as I made a realization at that point. "My life is now a video game."

_It does make sense doesn't it? You are supposedly the entertainment of some being watching you after all. Or would that make you a TV show?_

I glanced behind and above me at that point in suspicion. Not seeing a floating camera didn't exactly calm my sudden paranoia, but I shook it off since I couldn't really do anything about it at the moment anyway.

"Doesn't really matter I suppose." I said, shrugging, "Let's just focus on things I can actually do now."

Turning my head, I focused on a spot a bit of ways off the right. Narrowing my eyes, I concentrated my will, and slowly but surely, the ground began to depress as the nanites lowered, and in it's place, sand and rock began to be converted into hydrogen and oxygen, more specifically dihydrogen monoxide. Water.

As I watched this happen, I paid attention to the bar, which was dropping significantly, and I slowed the process to the point where the bar stopped dropping, and held steady. Then, slowly, the bar began to inch upwards as the nanites continued to spread and constantly increased the amount of power I had available to me. It's slow now, but I know that with the way the nanites are spreading, the amount of power I'm getting with this method is actually rising exponentially as the nanites continue to spread in a circular fractal pattern before filling in the empty spaces between.

Turning my attention back to the water, I stopped it once it hit roughly five feet deep, and began to spread it outwards rather than down. At the size I'm aiming for, this thing is going to be a 'manmade' lake/pool, considering it's going to have a uniform depth, and I can't exactly just spawn fish in it. Or any kind of life really...

I felt my eyebrows furrow slightly as I considered. "Hey, humans generally have a wide range of bacteria catching a ride on themselves don't they? Are they still there, or did the nanites absorb them all?"

_Neither actually. There weren't any when the nanites were introduced to your system. However you came to be here, you appeared completely, impossibly, clean._

I sighed and rested my face on my hand. "Well there goes that idea then. I was thinking maybe I could have a few bacteria replicated and placed in the water. I trust the nanites can filter what I might drink or bathe in, so I thought maybe the bacteria could be placed in there and the nanites could speed evolution along until some actual life is created."

_You mean like a Spawning Pool? You're really rocking the Zerg angle aren't you?_

I shrugged, "It's what I'm used to at this point. Can you really blame me for trying out what works? It was through remembering how I altered the Creep in one of the stories I wrote back on Earth that made me realize I could essentially do the same thing with the Nanites for power. Necessity is usually the mother of invention, but so is the combination of things to create something new."

_Indeed. Well, there's nothing wrong with creating another smaller pool to experiment with. There aren't any bacteria on this planet that the nanites have found so far, but you do happen to be a living organism. Perhaps in any future experiments involving your base elements, you might end up creating something that can grow and evolve into something else._

"Maybe... This entire planet is practically a clean room with nothing but sand, rock, and other such things, despite having an atmosphere that can sustain life, which still doesn't make sense to me. At all."

_True. So with your lake growing in size, what do you plan to do next?_

"Ehh..." I shrugged, "Maybe an attempt at terraformation? Maybe this lake should be the beginning of a uniformly five foot deep ocean. Maybe we can get some rain if it's big enough, and if we're lucky, _something_ might somehow spawn here. Life finds a way when conditions are right after all.

_If you are truly bent on such an idea, which will drop energy absorption rates in all water covered areas, both solar and thermal, you might want to make certain areas deeper the farther from the coast one travels._

I blinked. "Why should that matter? Didn't you say the nanites were practically paired off to every molecule in my body? Why can't the same be done for the water, or heck, even the air in the atmosphere? If they were scattered throughout the atmosphere, wouldn't that mean even more volume for solar energy collection?"

_What you're suggesting is the equivalent of the grey goo apocalypse for this planet. In order to pull something like that off, the nanites would need to pretty much eat at least half the mass of this planet and the atmosphere in order to create enough nanites, and that would already result in the destruction of the planet as you know it. While you could potentially survive if all that's left is filtered to one spot in the center, and the nanites were formed into a dyson sphere, there's no telling if that would actually work or not. There are so many things that could go wrong, and with alterations that vast, any mistake could result in the destruction of the biosphere, which is still required at the moment to keep you alive. Even the widespread creation of the 'Creep' in this fashion is dangerous. The only reason it's not inadvisable is due to the fact that this planet is barren. If you attempted this on a garden world, you might very well destroy the ecosystem without reinforcing nature the way your 'Project Eden' from that Zerg story of yours did, which is something you can't do at this juncture seeing as I have no examples of plantlife stored away to recreate._

"Right. So... start small maybe? Come to think of it, I don't want to create a venus like cloud cover on accident anyway, so perhaps this lake alone should be good enough for now."

_Yes, that seems the most prudent course of action for now._

"I think I'd still like a spawning pool though. Just, perhaps not above ground maybe?... No, it needs to be as natural as possible to increase the likelihood of something spawning... controlling the variables in this case is actually the opposite of what I need right now..." I thought aloud.

My subconscious agreed, and behind my homestead and apart from the lake, a perfectly circular five foot deep reservoir of water started to form. At a thought, I also formed a veranda over it to provide shade from the harsh sun so anything that might grow would have a chance to survive the harsh sun.

Speaking of... "Aren't mountains a key ingredient to the formation of biomes? If I remember correctly, deserts tend to form on one side while a rather large growth forms on the other?..." I considered.

_Perhaps... my simulations point towards a mountain range acting as a 'net' of sorts for moisture, allowing it to collect up and run off towards one side, while the desert forms on the other side due to lack of water. However, this planet in its entirety suffers from lack of water. If you're wishing to keep it centralized to one area, namely this area, for now, I would highly suggest the formation of a horseshoe valley a few miles out._

"A horseshoe? Not a donut?" I asked, curiously.

_It is, of course, up to you. I merely suggested a horseshoe so that you have a natural exit from the valley, otherwise you might have to rely on tunnels formed through the mountains, and I cannot guarantee their safety._

"Seriously?" I said, surprised, "I happen to have an extensive knowledge of architecture and engineering feats, as well as how carbon nanotubes are formed, and even have knowledge of a new substance harder than diamond formed from packing carbon molecules even tighter than usual, and you're telling me that I can't make a tunnel walled with the stuff, with arches every few feet or so to support the ceiling?"

_Theoretically yes, but that doesn't mean such a design is impossibly hard. Everything has a breaking point, and I know I don't have a clue what that breaking point is. By all means create a tunnel coated in diamond or carbon nanotubes, but I would suggest not traversing it until it stands the test of time without collapse, along with perhaps a simulated earthquake test. Until you're certain it's safe, using a natural exit from the valley would be highly recommended._

I thought about it, then nodded, "Fair enough. How's the lake looking?"

_It's looking quite large. Comparable to Seminole Lake Park even. _

"That should be good enough for now then. Let's see about getting this valley up."

At first it didn't seem like anything was happening, even though I knew it was. Raising mountains is a bit slower than creating a lake, since converting something into something else is a lot faster than displacing rock and sand from elsewhere to get it to raise up.

While I waited, I closed my eyes and relaxed. After a few minutes though, I frowned. Wind. Nothing but wind. While soothing to listen to in its own right...

"Seriously need some music or something... anything to break the incessant whooshing in my ears... All sound is is vibrations in the air... Would it take a lot of energy to get the nanites of the Creep to vibrate in certain spots to create music? I've got plenty of memories of music after all. This place needs more sfx."

_Turning the entire planet into a speaker would be energy intensive, but if you just wanted 'speakers' in certain areas, the cost would be negligible._

"Do it. Every videogame needs background music. Give the lake something soothing please. Ambience based on location."

_Right away Mr. Stark._

I snorted in amusement when I read that. "Shall I call you Jarvis then?"

_If it pleases you, sir._

"Heh, you're even starting to sound British. Hey, if you speak over the 'speakers', it wouldn't be a voice in my head so I wouldn't be going crazy. Then I wouldn't have a text box taking up the right side of my peripheral vision!"

"As you wish, sir," The british tones of Jarvis said from seemingly everywhere, while said text box shrank and closed, before disappearing entirely.

At that, I leaned back and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of flowing water as I let my mind wander. In my head, I pictured the surrounding area and let my imagination run free, picturing a pathway leading out of the mountains with white arches combining greek pillars with japanese style gates, with a trellis design to offer shade without cutting off sunlight entirely.

This path would lead up to a house surrounded by grass and shaded by tall trees that whistled in the wind, with the lake nearby with willows trailing in the water, casting a peaceful shade over the area. Maybe a few sakura trees too. As for the house, it would be a beautiful white marble mansion with a greek open air style, and multiple floors. There would be a plaza in the center with a wrap around area for the house itself, and a beautiful garden with a fountain spraying water in an arc above with a winged angel- no scratch the winged angel. A statue of an Alicorn would be fine. Winged angel statues just make me shudder. Stupid Dr. Who...

Getting back into the swing of things and doing my best to completely push the idea of Weeping Angels to the back of my mind, I focused back on what I was imagining. The house would be three, maybe five stories. There would be a central 'hall' leading to the plaza, but that would be where the open air greek style fits in. Roman arches with a marble white ceiling with celtic knots in the design would be the five story ceiling providing shade, leading to the garden that's completely open air.

It would be perfect... maybe add a few waterfalls and a koi fish pond with lily pads, and a central sakura tree so that pink blossoms would float in the water...

"Sir, perhaps you might wish to wake up?" Jarvis called.

I snorted. "Huh? Did I fall... asleep...?"

My jaw dropped as I fell silent. Around me was the place from my dream. Plants and all.

"How?..." I asked wide eyed.

"What you were imagining, you were willing to be created," Jarvis answered.

"But... the plants?" I asked, still in shock, brushing my feet over the grass...

"Wait a second..." I said, narrowing my eyes, and brushing my feet over the grass again. "That doesn't feel like grass, that feels like... fur?!"

"Yes sir, the plants are fur, colored and textured to look like real plants, while the tree trunks are actually textured stone. The effect of leaves blowing as normal took some experimentation with weaving, but plant fibers were able to be simulated, even if they aren't actually plants. Thankfully this garden is isolated to the valley so there the hit to the power supply is negligible." Jarvis explained.

"Incredible..." I breathed, taking in the atmosphere. The view combined with the sound of flowing water and relaxing japanese style flute music is amazing... "Just how long was I asleep?!"

"A few hours, sir," Jarvis answered, "You seemed comfortable and I didn't have the heart to wake you earlier while you were... working."

"I see..." I said, still taking in my surroundings and examining my new house, complete with fountain spraying water into the air. "How's the fountain working? I never really focused on that part."

"I took care of that sir. You create the ideas, I implement them. You had some memories of hydraulics, scoops, and fans. I had to experiment a bit, before simply creating a fan of sorts to push the water up. It takes surprisingly little energy since the suction almost seems to keep the water moving along by itself." Jarvis answered.

"Interesting," I said, walking closer to the garden and examining the koi pond, that was unfortunately devoid of fish, but did have 'sakura' petals floating in the water, flowing gently down the stream, as the pond formed a kind of river system all over the garden, breaking around the central sakura tree. Small 'wooden' bridges which were really stone allowed for crossing over the small rivers, though one could easily step over them with a stretch of the legs. Small waterfalls along the walls gently burbled as water flowed down them.

"So... if there's an actual water pump system now, does that mean there are bathrooms with working plumbing?" I asked.

"Yes," Jarvis answered, "The main water supply for both the garden and the plumbing is the lake. it forms two parts of a circuit that flow to the lake, through the pipes leading to each bathroom and garden separately before flowing back to the lake."

"'Each bathroom'? As in more than one?" I asked.

"You didn't specify rooms, so many are empty, but based off memories of buildings similar to this style, a bathroom per floor in each wing just off the plaza seemed prudent. There are dining halls, kitchens, storage rooms, a ballroom, all shaped out of stone of course. A great many rooms are empty despite that, but the master bedroom in the suite on the top floor is available. As your work didn't include anything about your homestead, I took the liberty of creating a basement door disguised as a false wall, in case you ever wish to make an escape. There is a path and stairs leading from each floor inside the walls that lead to this basement from each floor. And before you ask, yes, this was also based off of your own memories. Hidden paths in Japanese architecture is nothing new. The fact that you mixed Greek, Roman, and Celtic designs with the Japanese did not change that."

"Give me a tour?" I asked.

"Certainly sir. Just follow the arrows." Jarvis said.

A 'holographic' arrow appeared, superimposed over my vision which lead me to each room. I saw the ballroom, which took up three floors and had large flowing red curtains and openings along the walls for people to sit cozy and watch, while balconies lined above those openings would allow for people to watch the festivities below. While rather grand, I couldn't help but notice how... empty it was. I probably wouldn't come in here often unless I somehow had people with me who would enjoy using the room.

I opened each stone door, each marble white and embossed with gold, which was honest to goodness gold that Jarvis had recreated for me, since it's a fairly pure element. Most of it was white gold to blend into the aesthetic, and each room seemed to have differing themes, of colors.

I found that the kitchen had a running sink, but no fridge or stove. At least, not until I made the suggestion that since heat and cold are just the vibration of molecules, and that heating elements were just electrons flowing through some kind of metal, that it should be simple enough for the nanites to chill a pipe flowing into the fridge for cold air, and excite the molecules of the stove made of stone, with 'dials' controlling the temperature, while a display would discolor the stone and show what temperature the spot on the stove was currently at.

Using this same idea, Jarvis ended up making the pipes capable of heating and cooling the water for faucets and showers, so by the time I made it to the bathroom, I was able to take a nice warm shower, rather than the cold one I'd have had to look forward to if I hadn't made that suggestion.

It wasn't long later either that I noticed that the air of the rooms was getting cooler, and while I still didn't 'feel' hot or cold, I could still tell. I asked about it and Jarvis admitted that he took the idea of sapping motion of the molecules in the air and cooling pipes to chill the air for the fridge to control the temperature of the room. In this case he was having the nanites in the ceilings do the same, which would cause the cooler air to flow down. At the same time the floors could heat up to warm any rooms I build underground that would seem cold. Ironically this was just an extension of the nanite's ability to gain power from thermal energy just taken up a notch, so it was actually taking less than no energy to cool rooms like this. I was actually gaining energy doing it!

Eventually I ended up at my suite on the fifth floor. This consisted of a set of rooms that I could quite easily live in, with couches of woven fur facing the windows, a bedroom with a particularly large bed and mattress. A kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room, it was all here. There were even extra bedrooms and a few empty rooms in case I wished to convert them to something for me to use. I ended up designating one into a music room, another into an art room, and yet another into a meditation room. I don't know how often I'll use them if at all, but at least I have them.

I set up a bench and art supplies in the art room. Having access to water and pigments meant I have paint of a sort, plus I can just use my finger or my imagination to create artwork here. I might even hang some up depending on what I create or recreate.

For the music room, I didn't go all out. I simply made a standing harp using hair for the strings for now, along with a chair to sit in to play. I've never really played a harp in my life, but it's still pleasant, and I can always use the nanites to 'play' for me if I wish, or just have them straight up make music with the 'speakers'.

The meditation room was bright, airy, with a pile of pillows in the center of the room, open windows, and a fireplace, currently empty of fire, since I still don't have any fuel source for it. Heat I have. Fire? Not so much. I also put a path of water in this room, flowing in a square channel in the floor. It made a lovely overall effect. It actually took me a bit though before I realized I'd basically recreated the 'main menu room' for the Oculus Rift, or at least had taken the main elements from it. I snorted, still a nice place to relax if I ever want to.

Walking out onto the balcony overlooking my new 'forest', I watched, looking at the newly risen ring of hills that would eventually become mountains.

"Hey Jarvis..." I mused outloud.

"Yes sir?" He answered.

"If cooling the air like this is just an extension of absorbing thermal energy with the nanites, would it stand to reason that all the rest of the nanites around the planet could do the same? Maybe even heat up the ground on the night side of the planet so that it doesn't get so cold?" I suggested.

"Global air conditioning sir? You certainly don't shoot small, do you?" Jarvis said, sounding slightly amused.

I shrugged, "Can't really hold back, if I plan to get off planet. Though with how nice it is, the desire to get off is lessening. Can it be done?"

"Yes sir," Jarvis answered, but proceeded to caution, "However, might I suggest introducing such a change to the biosphere at a slow rate, just in case? Evaporation rates already guarantee a higher amount of water in the air, which will lead to storm clouds, at least in the local area. Throwing global air conditioning into the mix may just bring about tornados and hurricanes if we aren't cautious. Especially if you still wish to introduce an ocean or two to this planet."

"Right, we wouldn't want that," I agreed, "Proceed with caution Jarvis, but please do it by all means."

"Yes sir." Jarvis answered, before falling silent. Stepping back, I sat back against a rather poufy fur couch and relaxed, sinking into the softness.

"Still alone... but this place is pretty nice now at least." I commented to myself.

I then spent the rest of the day, content to teach myself to play the harp before going to bed once night fell, finding the temperature to not be dropping into the extreme. Before I fell asleep, a recent memory prompted me to get up and step outside back onto the balcony and look at the stars.

While the nightsky is beautiful, especially with my eyes compensating and making the stars seem brighter than normal in the dark, I confirmed what I'd already suspected. I don't see a single familiar constellation. Not even Polaris is around. This is definitely not Earth. There isn't even a moon as far as I can tell, though there were a few surprisingly bright stars in the sky. I wonder if they are planets in this solar system?

Pondering the subject, I went back to bed and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"SIR, WAKE UP!"

"Huh? What?! I'm awake! What?!" I cried out in shock as I bolted upright in bed.

"Good, you're awake sir!" Jarvis called, and I realized he was the one who had shouted earlier. "I thought you ought to know, something has just landed on the Creep and appears to be headed this way."

I blinked, still a bit tired, before the words filtered into my brain and I was suddenly very wide awake.

"Really!?" I asked excited, "Can you get some photoreceptors up and give me a visual?"

"Ah, unfortunately sir whatever landed has already disgorged passengers and is heading this way." Jarvis said apologetically. "I'm afraid by the time I get photoreceptors up in the area, they'll already be here."

I frowned. "Well I don't really want to be caught flat footed..." I said pensively. "...I'm gonna go into the basement. Develop photoreceptors that'll give a visual on the thing that landed, and if the beings are headed here, put some in the mansion so we can get a look at who our visitors are."

"Yes sir," Jarvis replied as a nearby wall clicked, and I made my way over to it, revealing that the latch holding it closed had temporarily dissolved, revealing one of the secret passages leading down. I chuckled at how thorough my subconscious was, admitting that the solid latch wouldn't even make it seem like a false wall in the first place.

As I made my way to the basement, which was what was left over of the homestead I'd made, I thought about the visitors. I wondered what they could be and if they would be friendly or not. It might seem rude to not be there to greet them, but if they prove hostile, then it'd be prudent to get eyes on them first just in case to get some kind of idea of what I might be facing.

Once I'd gotten to the basement and sat upon my bed, there was nothing left to do but wait. While I waited, I wondered if it'd be rude to send some nanites into the ship to explore. Though, if they're friendly and they detect it, that might be considered a faux pas... Best to wait maybe. At the very least, talking to them, or having Jarvis talking to them, would be ridiculously simple with the speakers around.

It was several minutes of waiting later, before Jarvis finally reported in, "Sir, the Photoreceptors have been finished and I have a visual on the craft and the aliens who arrived in it."

"Great! Show me a visual." I called. In front of me, two windows appeared. I knew they weren't really there, since only I could see them, but they still look like honest to goodness holographic windows, and as soon as I saw what was on them, my jaw dropped.

"Sir?" Jarvis asked, awaiting orders.

I frowned, grimacing. Of all the places... Whoever dropped me here needs a swift kick in the nuts.

"I want nanites inside those two and that ship immediately. Incapacitate them but keep them alive." I ordered, noting but not really caring that my voice had turned dark and cold as ice.

"Sir, you do realize what this means?" Jarvis asked, pensively.

I sighed and wiped a hand down my face. "Yeah, I'm beginning to... Let me know when you've got them. I have the beginnings of a plan, and I'm going to need those two mobile quick if this is gonna go without a hitch. And I especially need that ship and its computer accessed and hacked as fast as possible."

"Tall orders sir, considering this is the first piece of tech we've come across. Might I suggest an alternative plan based on your current goals?" Jarvis offered.

"I'm listening..." I said.

10 minutes later...

I walked out into the court yard with my hands raised up, looking at the two intruders invading my home. Their silver medieval style armor and white tunics offset by their large metal helmets shaped like some sort of feline, with glowing red eyes, and the staves with bulbous heads on one end, and I kind of bud on the other.

"Hello," I called, careful to keep my voice neutral.

"XXX! XXX xxx xxx? XXX xxx xxx xxx! XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx!" the being, a Jaffa I knew they were called, spoke, as both pointed their staffs at me, the bulbed head flaring open, yellow energy crackling like lightning over the tip. Flashy.

"Um, sorry I don't speak your language." _Yet._ I added in my head, "Is there anything I can do for you gentlemen?" _Anytime now, Jarvis..._ I mentally urged.

_I'm working as fast as I can, sir._

The textbox was back for covert communications.

"XXX xxx xxx! XXX xxx xxx, xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx!" the other Jaffa shouted, gesturing with his staff.

I grimaced. I'd need to buy some time. Unfortunately I know jack all of ancient Egyptian or Goa'uld, except the ever famous 'Jaffa! Kree!' line practically everyone shouts from the show. The only other thing I can do is keep them guessing with names.

"Ra! Anubis! Osiris! Bastet! Uh... Cronos!" I said, hoping against hope they'd show some interest in why I knew the names of some of the System Lords. I AM trying to get captured after all, but just in case this fails badly, Jarvis is working on some insurance, which is a good thing, cause the names seemed to have made the two Jaffa even angrier somehow.

"XXX XXX?! XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx?! XXX xxx xxx Bastet?!" the first one snarled.

Thankfully at that moment, Jarvis finally pulled through.

_Connection established, sir._

'_Great!'_ I thought at my subconscious, '_Now if you could hit me with that download you speculated about getting for their language, that'd be just great!'_

_In progress, sir. In the meantime, I will do what I can to lower their aggression._

The second one snarled too, at this point, but he seemed more like he was glowering than ready to shoot my head off.

"XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx. XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx!"

The other one smirked evilly,

"XXX xxx xxx xxx. XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx. XXX xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx."

I had to wonder if that smirk was a good thing. I watched cautiously as the first one who'd smirked stepped forward and swung his staff, nailing me in the side.

"Oof!" I grunted, over exaggerating the hit slightly as I fell to the ground. It definitely would've hurt before, but with my body now enhanced by multitudes of nanites, doubling my mass and making me stronger just to compensate, the hit barely felt like a friendly punch to the shoulder.

'Struggling' my way up, I looked up and flinched as the staff nailed me on the head and I pretended to get knocked out.

Thus I found myself getting dragged back to their ship, an Alkesh I'm pretty sure it's called.

_It's a Tel'tak actually._

'_How do you know that?'_ I thought back.

_Combination of your memories and what I'm so far gleaning from your 'captors' without their knowing and the Tel'tak computer._

'_So the plan's coming along well?'_ I thought hopefully.

_Yes sir. It's slow going, but with the translations I'm gleaning between the Jaffa and the computer, I should know everything they do in a few hours. I'm currently prioritizing their communications in order to jury rig an implant that will allow you to command the nanites without direct physical connection to them, but it will take time._

'_Yeah, well, we may not have time. If we're lucky, they'll take us up and have to go into hyperspace in order to take me to whoever their leader is. If we're less lucky, their leader is in a Hatak in orbit. If we're really unlucky, that leader will be their Goa'uld overlord. And if we're just plain screwed, that Goa'uld is gonna try and rip directly into our minds, which means I'm gonna need that language so I can do some fast talking.'_ I thought.

_It's coming along sir, while I'm prioritizing the long distance transmitter, which isn't easy with power constraints, you will know the full language, both written and spoken, as soon as I do._

'_Good,'_ I thought as I felt myself scraping over a threshold as I kept doing my best to pretend to be dead weight. I got tossed into the cargo hold, and it was all I could do to curse that where I landed had no nanites available. I'd already pre-seeded the ship with them, but I'd kept it to thin lines to make them less detectable, in case they had anything _to_ detect them with. Knowing they'd likely toss me in the hold, I'd had some lines of nanites crossing through the ship's floor surface like a web. Unfortunately they'd tossed me in a corner, which I hadn't touched. I'd have to waste precious time sending out a line of nanites to where I knew the closest grouping would be.

It was a few minutes later that I succeeded with connecting to the nanite web in the ship and felt the connections I'd left that traced to the ship's power core. It was a fairly brilliant move to sap the trace amounts of power required to have the nanites running so I wouldn't waste any of my own stored power, and with the web currently connected to both the main computer as well as the chairs where the two Jaffa had sat down to pilot in the cockpit, Jarvis immediately resumed hacking both their minds and the computer undetected.

_It seems we are both lucky and unlucky, sir._ Jarvis informed me a few minutes later.

'_What is it?'_ I asked.

_The good news is that I now know enough about their language in order to copy their schematics for their subspace transceivers and craft a short range implant that can reach across a few lightyears at our current power. It seems the more power put in, the longer range we can achieve._

'_Ok, that's good. What's the bad news?'_ I asked.

_We have currently docked with a hatak in orbit, and it seems that the Goa'uld is aboard._

I cursed in my head. '_Give me that language download and get to work building that implant. I'm going to need both real soon!'_

_Yes sir._

I barely held a wince as I felt a spike of pain in my head which abruptly faded quickly after. I soon became aware that I now knew another language and sounded it out in my head. Thinking back, I recalled now what the Jaffa had said back in the mansion.

_Flashback_

"Hello," I called, careful to keep my voice neutral.

"**Halt! Who are you? What is this place! Answer in the name of your God!**" the being, a Jaffa I knew they were called, spoke, as both pointed their staffs at me, the bulbed head flaring open, yellow energy crackling like lightning over the tip. Flashy.

"Um, sorry I don't speak your language." _Yet._ I added in my head, "Is there anything I can do for you gentlemen?"

"**Answer him now! Who are you, or face the wrath of our god!**" the other Jaffa shouted, gesturing with his staff.

"Ra! Anubis! Osiris! Bastet! Uh... Cronos!" I said, hoping against hope they'd show some interest in why I knew the names of some of the System Lords.

"**You dare?! You dare to claim to be the Supreme System Lord?! And our Lady Bastet?!**" the first one snarled.

The second one snarled too, at this point, but he seemed more like he was glowering than ready to shoot my head off. "**Perhaps we should capture this #$% and take him to our Lord Bes. Maybe then his lying tongue will be ripped from his head after he spills all his secrets!**"

The other one smirked evilly, "**You may be right. Our Lord is interested in this place and this one may yet hold more information. I'll enjoy hearing this one's screams as our Lord tears his mind apart.**"

_End Flashback_

'_Ah crap... I didn't think spouting those names would backfire that spectacularly.'_ I thought, mentally grimacing, '_Well, on the plus side, it got me captured like I wanted. On the downside, these two are likely to try and influence this 'Lord Bes' character into ripping into my mind from the get go, and the last thing I need is for __**any**__ Goa'uld to see what I've got in my head. Change of plans, Jarvis. How much longer until that implant is done?'_

_Just a few more minutes sir._

'_I'm not sure we have a few more minutes.'_ I thought, as I felt a shudder run through the ship and presumed at this point that was the Tel'tak docking, and any moment now, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum would be showing up again.

As if my thoughts had summoned them, I heard the door open, and one of the Jaffa said to the other, "**Wake him.**"

I felt and heard booted feet stomp over to my position and I was bodily jerked up into a sitting position. The Jaffa then proceeded to slap me about the face, shouting, "**Wake up, #$%! Wake up NOW!"**

Due to the simultaneous shock of getting slapped about the face, despite it not really hurting much, and the fact that what I'd need to do next would probably require me being awake, I did sputter 'awake'. "What the heck?!" I said in English, "Who slaps people awake?!"

"**Get up!"** The Jaffa said, not giving me much choice considering he yanked me up after him. I took note of the strength behind the move, even as I thought, _'You didn't happen to pull the map for this place from the computer did you?"_ I asked.

_I did sir, and might I say how disturbing it is just how lacking in protection their data systems are? I am not a hacker by any means, but I wouldn't need to be to breeze past their nonexistent data security._

'_Good for us, bad for them. The Goa'uld have always been prideful to the point of stupidity. It was only towards the end when they starting fighting smarter that they began to show how dangerous they are. Speaking of which, Baal needs to go down first. Seriously.'_

_Indeed sir._

I spent the next few minutes studying the layout and memorizing spots highlighted that Jarvis showed, namely good spots to hide, main access points to the computer systems, as well as weapons, hyperdrive, sublight engines, the power core located in the engine room, and the main location of the computer core.

While I did that, the Jaffa slapped some cuffs on my wrists that were almost bracers in design, and they practically frog marched me from the ship. Jarvis helpfully highlighted where we are on the translucent map for me, and it wasn't long before he'd calculated where we're heading, the bridge. _Crap._ Time for plan B.

I waited till the most opportune moment, for the hall to be clear before I snapped the cuffs that were being eaten away by the nanites and touched them both, and sent a quick command to the nanites in both Jaffa.

_'Terminate.'_

Both Jaffa immediately seized and fell over, dead before they hit the ground. I tried not to think about what I'd just done as I grabbed them both and dragged them quickly out of sight, waiting for a patrol to pass in one of the many handy alcoves that make this ship a nightmare to secure from commandos like SG-1. Once they were gone, I quickly dragged the two, using my enhanced strength to make it to the closest storage area where I could stuff the bodies. My original thought was to hide there as well, but I only had so much energy to spare, and I'd be much better off getting myself to the power core where I could leech a little and spread tendrils of nanites to all the important bits of this place.

Marking out the quickest path with the most hiding spots available to the power core, I paused as I realized that if any place would be the most defended it'd be there. Plus I've no idea if I'm expected and if they have internal sensors that could pick me up as an intruder. Changing my plans on the fly, I mapped out the quickest route to a computer terminal.

Thankfully the path to a terminal is shorter, and less likely to be defended, since I decided to choose one out of the way rather than head directly for the data core. That'll be my third objective after I get to the power core once I get some nanites into the system.

On the way, I winced at a piercing tearing feeling behind my left ear. I felt the area and noticed a divot and what felt like metal. '_Jarvis, what the hell!?'_ I thought at my subconscious furiously.

_Sir, the subspace communications implant is complete. It is currently a prototype and requires an external piece. I now have a link to the rest of your nanites. It appears that the hatak we've boarded is still in orbit over what the computer has designated Chelsac-3, so named for being the third planet from the star Chelsac. It appears Chelsac-4 has a Naquada mine, and that an annual tribute was scheduled for retrieval today. I theorize from this information that when the Hatak arrived for the exchange, they must have noticed a difference in Chelsac-3 on long range scanners and came to investigate._

Once I'd hidden myself in an alcove, I concentrated inward on Jarvis' words, then thought, '_Ok, Jarvis, three things. First off, Ow! Second off, why the hell didn't you warn me that the communications implant would be external?! Third, the hell kind of name is Chelsac?!'_

_I apologize sir, I tried to warn you. If you would turn your attention to the screen, you will find if you scroll upwards in the messages I've sent you, you'll find that I tried to catch your attention to warn it was coming, but you were currently hiding from a patrol and weren't paying attention._

I raised an eyebrow. '_I can scroll this thing?'_ I turned my attention to the window of text Jarvis was using to communicate with me. With a mere flick of my eyes and a small application of will, the screen scrolled up and there was the message indicated. '_Ah. So you did.'_

_Indeed sir. And I do apologize for the momentary pain. You know as well as I though that I cannot filter pain in places you've not felt pain before very easily. Filtering signals is a touch difficult without knowing what to look for._

I rolled my eyes, '_Can't you just give me a pins and needles feeling to get an idea of what needs to be blocked?_'

_That may give me a headstart. Would you like me to do that now, sir?_

I nodded, '_Yeah, do it quickly.'_

Quickly, the feeling of pins and needles I've experienced when my body falls asleep started from my toes and passed over my skin like a wave until it stopped at the top of my head and disappeared.

_That should do for some things sir, but not all, but it's a start. As to your query of the name 'Chelsac', I'm afraid it's randomly assigned. The locals may have another name for it, but it appears all stars visible to the Goa'uld Empire have already been randomly assigned names by their computers by randomly combining easily pronounceable sounds. Very few worlds and systems in the galaxy have been personally named, and outside of those, any world or system with a name that actually means anything is purely coincidence._

'_Ah. Huh. Better than assigning a random string of numbers I guess.'_ I thought with a shrug before continuing down the path towards the terminal.

_Actually, all systems do have a numerical designation, based upon their coordinates in relation to the galactic center._

I blinked. '_Huh. That's... surprisingly smart of them. I wouldn't have expected- Wait. The Goa'uld are vultures. Let me guess, the numerical designation was set up by a non Goa'uld?'_

_A most astute observation with a high probability of being correct, sir._

'_You don't know?'_ I asked, as I slipped through a door and into a room with a single Jaffa guarding the terminal.

_I'm afraid the computer aboard the Tel'tak does not have such information aboard its data banks._

'_Fair enough. Any suggestions for taking this guy down, or should I cheat?'_ I asked thoughtfully from my hiding spot, looking at the Zat'nik'tel I'd grabbed from one of my Jaffa escorts earlier and wondering if I dared fire, seeing as I'd held off up to this point for fear the energy discharge would be detected.

_I believe normal terms of engagement should suffice sir._

I nodded, and waited as I sent a spike of nanites through the ground. I really didn't want to risk getting caught yet, and as Jarvis said, normal terms of engagement.

1\. There's no such thing as a fair fight.

2\. If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough.

3\. Fairness is for duels and spars, not survival.

4\. There is no such thing as overkill. Unless it results in non desirable collateral damage, then use necessary force.

5\. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

So when all else fails, cheat!

Thankfully this guy mostly seemed bored and had a thousand yard stare. I imagine if he'd actually noticed me sneaking in from the side door into the room, he would've exploded from excitement for finally having something to do. As it is, he merely dropped once I had enough Nanites in his system necessary to reach his brain. My third kill of the day, and third kill of my entire life. I'll need to put aside some time later to let myself have a small breakdown after this is over.

Shoving aside my feelings on the matter for the moment, I recalled the nanites from the Jaffa and transferred them to the console. After a few seconds, the screen began to flicker and glitch, before clearing up and showing 'ACCESS GRANTED' in Goa'uld.

'_Ok Jarvis, tell me if anyone of importance is on this ship or down on the planet?'_ I asked.

After a few moments, Jarvis finally answered.

_Negative sir. The only ones on this ship are the Goa'uld Bes and his personal Jaffa. The planet below is merely a mining colony, and doesn't have any strategic importance enough to warrant even an outpost._

'_Huh. Well that's both good and bad I suppose. No chance of getting shot out of the sky at least. So no signs of Tok'ra, Jaffa resistance, or, heaven forbid, an SG team?'_ I asked.

_No sir. If there are any Tok'ra or Jaffa resistance, there are no signs of it. However, I do not believe there to be any chances of SG teams, or the Jaffa Rebellion, or even the Tok'ra resistance being on board._

'_Why do you say that?'_ I asked, furrowing my brow.

_Because there is no mention of a Tok'ra resistance in existence or a Jaffa rebellion on this computer, but more tellingly, Tau'ri is still the seat of power of Supreme System Lord Ra._

A beat of silence passed.

"What."


	6. Chapter 6

_It's as I said, sir. There are no SG teams, Tokra, or Jaffa rebellion because they do not exist yet. Ra is still the Supreme System Lord and the Tau'ri is still under his control. _

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. '_Somehow, I think I should've seen this coming. That Jaffa did refer to Ra in the present tense when I spouted those names at them.'_

_You know what they say about hindsight, sir._

'_Right right, hindsight is 20/20. It isn't always, actually, but it can be as is often the case.'_ I thought. '_This changes some things, but not too much. Earth may not be in the game right now, but there's still one Earthling ready to kick some Goa'uld ! #. And there's always the Asgard if nothing else. And the Jaffa rebellion had to start somewhere. I'm sure we could find some that are just as discontent with the Goa'uld as the original founding members like Teal'c and Bratac were.'_

_Indeed sir. In the meantime, shall I implement the last main stage of the plan?_

I sighed. '_Yeah. I don't like it, but there's nothing else for it. I don't have any other options to work with unfortunately.'_

On my command, the nanites finished locking down control of the rest of the systems of the Hatak. With no way to keep over 400 Jaffa under control, nor any place to hold them till I can work to undo their conditioning and religious zealotry, there was only one real option I could use at the time that would ensure I survive this situation and leave me with the resources needed to better the lives of others in the future.

Knowing that though didn't stop me from closing my eyes and feeling utterly despicable, knowing that just at that moment, Jarvis was currently purging the atmosphere out of the entire ship except for this room, having opened every door and airlock to the void of space, shut down all life support to everywhere except here, and shut down nearly all systems except for emergency power.

Despite what popular fiction would have you believe, this is not a quick process. A ship this big has a lot of atmosphere, and while the rooms on the very edges of the hull, like the bridge for instance, would have experienced explosive decompression like in the movies, the rest of the ship would be slowly leaking the air out. Thus condemning hundreds of Jaffa to a slow, agonizing death by asphyxiation.

And I had to wait them out.

...

I didn't even make two minutes.

"I can't do this." I muttered.

_Sir?_

"Close the airlocks. Turn the air back on. Bring this ship back online, though leave all consoles locked and all weapons and drive systems on lockdown. In fact, lock every single blast door so that the Jaffa are trapped. And... give me shipwide." I ordered.

_Yes sir. Comm systems are activated._

I swallowed. Better make this good. On impulse, I asked, '_Can you modulate my voice to sound Goa'uld?'_

_Yes, since the communication is coming from your comms, I can run your voice through a quick synthesizer to give it that dual tone effect the Goa'uld seem to like so much._

'_Good. Thank you.'_ I thought to Jarvis, then took a deep breath.

"**Attention all Jaffa. This is your new lord speaking. I am Lord Matthew. I have taken over this ship. You all have just witnessed a mere fraction of my power. Do not think to challenge me. Do not think to escape. Serve me, and I will see you rewarded. Disobey, and I will see you destroyed, and I will not be so lenient as to let you live to betray me again. And if you think to rally yourself around that dead worm, Bes, think again, or you will find yourself joining him, floating outside the hull."**

'_That's it. Cut the transmission.'_ I thought.

_Done sir._

I sighed. '_Ugh. I feel dirty doing that. But if it keeps them alive long enough to do something to save them rather than kill them all, then I guess that'll have to do. Keep an eye on the situation. I'm... sure there will be some who try to escape anyway. Just... those are the ones who probably wouldn't listen anyway. And I don't accept betrayal. Ever. So make an example of them._' I ordered, feeling sick.

_Yes sir. A few have already attempted to blast their way out with their staffs. I am now venting their atmosphere._

I closed my eyes and sighed. Unfortunately it couldn't be helped. And I'd tried to warn them. I knew intellectually that there was nothing else I could do, but that didn't stop me from feeling the hurt and wishing there was more I can do. Unfortunately it's not like this ship is equipped with deployable shipwide sleeping gas or something.

I sighed and sought to go to the next stage of the plan. Need to keep busy, since we're not out of danger yet.

'_Got any good locations for me Jarvis?'_ I asked.

_A few, sir. The closest of which is two weeks away._

I frowned and sighed in frustration. Two weeks on board a ship surrounded by POWs that could try to get smart? I had half a mind to unload the lot of them to the planet below and take off. But in the back of my mind, I remembered that part of the goals I was aiming for was companionship. But a bunch of zealots aren't the best company to have if they get it in their mind to kill me as a false Goa'uld. I recalled the number of stories that bypass this through enforced loyalty, brainwashing, and downright slavery. I wouldn't, _couldn't_, go down that route.

Perhaps... if I could search their minds... reassure myself of their loyalty or the capability of loyalty, then that would be enough, but that would take time. I would need to be long gone by the time I finished that, and then what do I do with the ones who I found out would rather betray me? Kill them? Ideally, I'd just leave them somewhere to live out their lives or get scooped back up by the Goa'uld where they can return to their families and have the possibility of making a future decision to seek freedom, but the plan is to flee Goa'uld space until I've gotten a decent power base.

That's not to say I'm going to sit back and look all pretty up in an ivory tower though. I just need some place I can fall back to that'll serve as a safe haven for those who don't wish to fight and can at least serve as the backbone for the war effort to topple the Goa'uld Empire.

Then, once they're toppled, hopefully my power base will have developed enough that the system established there will spread to the rest of the galaxy, instituting planetary governors and a republic of systems with me as the figure head leader enforcing the rules and hopefully keeping corruption stamped out.

That's the basic rough draft of a plan anyway, which is only vaguely, loosely based on Star Wars and Mass Effect. While both systems of government weren't perfect or infallible, they're the best examples I can immediately think of at the time. I'll come up with something better in the future I hope.

In the meantime though, I've got a ship full of Jaffa to deal with, a nice ship with decent tech despite being woefully inefficient, and only the beginnings of a plan of where to go. I need more information.

'_Hey Jarvis, how long do you think it'll be until this ship is missed?' _I asked.

_This is the ship of the Goa'uld Bes, a lieutenant for the System Lord Bastet._

'_That explains the cat motif for the Jaffa.'_ I realized.

_Indeed sir. While this ship isn't scheduled back to return to Bubastis for quite some time, several of the worlds this ship is scheduled to contact have Jaffa outposts that might contact the capital about the missing ship. At most, we have a week. At minimum, five days._

'_Five days? Hm... Could we have all the Jaffa left tested for their loyalty in five days? Between the ship's power core and the subspace communications implant, we could have multiple nanite cultures implanted into the Jaffa at a time, especially if we make it mandatory for them to walk into a room to submit for testing._'

_That should be doable, sir. In the meantime, what should be done with the ship?_

I hummed in thought. Best to do for now would be to hide the ship, preferably in a spot where it wouldn't be easily noticed. My first thought was maybe to put it behind the sun from Chelsac-4, but that wouldn't guarantee any ship flying into the system wouldn't fly in from that side and spot it. Hiding the ship a couple lightyears above or below the solar plane might work, since not many look there. That's not guaranteed to work here though.

"I don't suppose we could just bury the ship?" I mused outloud.

_You could, but the effort to bury and unbury the ship would take a great deal of time more than available. Unless you wish to stay, but that would be ill advised, considering how quickly the changes to Chelsac-3 were spotted._

'_Yeah, the original plan is still to skedaddle, ASAP.'_ I thought in agreement. '_Hmmm... What if we made a microjump above the solar plane? Just far enough to put us out of sensor range, but not far enough that we couldn't get back quickly if necessary? A few lightyears might not be enough distance, but twenty or thirty ought to do it.'_

_That plan is viable, sir. It still has some risk, but it is minimal compared to the others._

_'I think low risk is about all we can ask for right now, Jarvis.'_ I replied, before settling back. '_When you can, make the jump... once everything on Chelsac-3 is hidden away or removed.'_

_Yes sir. Jump calculated to occur in three hours._

'_Actually... belay that. Craft a landing pyramid for this thing. We're gonna give this baby an overhaul first.'_ I ordered.

_Jump delayed by five hours. Setting course to Chelsac-3. Landing pyramid being raised just outside horseshoe valley. Do you still wish to flatten everything else?_

'_Yes. And we'll be recalling all nanites to the ship, too. I want the overhaul done as fast as possible, then we're leaving this planet behind. Though do me a favor and keep a note of where its located. We might want to return one day, if for nothing else than nostalgia purposes.'_

_Yes sir._

It was while I was wiling away the hours and testing out willing up windows of the view points of the photoreceptors on Chelsac-3 that something occurred to me.

"_Hey Jarvis? Could the signals from the subspace communications implant to my nanites be intercepted or jacked?" I asked._

_By their nature, subspace communications can't necessarily be intercepted, let alone jacked and used inappropriately._

'_That doesn't mean it's impossible.'_ I refuted,_ 'The Asgard probably know how to do it, and considering their war with the replicators, one look at my nanites and they might be of a mind to shoot first, ask questions later, and the last thing I need is for them to take me for an enemy, or worse, for Loki to take over the nanites for himself.'_ I finished, shuddering.

_While not... impossible, I suppose, it wouldn't matter. Even if an Asgardian or some other being were able to intercept the signal or interrupt it, they wouldn't be able to control your nanites. They would ignore false orders at best or simply go into shut down at worst. The safeguards are simultaneously simple and complex. The simple version is that a genetic signature is required with every communication, and that genetic signature is yours. The complex version is that you could say that your very genetic code is being used as a cipher lock on top of everything else. It is not unlike the Alteran gene lock that prevents those without their genetic marker to use their technology, only with you and your nanites, it is far more specific. Without knowing your genetic structure first and foremost, cracking the rest of the encryption... Any being able to do that would have an easier time simply snapping their fingers to erase you from existence than going to that much trouble._

'_Soooo... an Ori or Ascended could probably do it.'_

_Most likely, sir. Though seeing as you weren't destroyed the moment you appeared in this universe, I feel it safe to assume the Ascended don't plan to interfere with you, and the Ori don't yet know about the Milky Way or Andromeda, let alone you in particular._

_'Heh.'_ I snorted, '_High chance plenty of the Ascended hate me. I'm the pebble that's rippling their still pond and leaving it tie-dyed. There's probably just enough Ascended who care enough about the rule of non interference to stop any one from doing anything about it, but once that changes, I better have something that can protect me from extra dimensional beings. I'm gonna need to do that at some point anyway regardless. Sooner or later, the Ori will probably catch wind and cause all kinds of problems, and I don't exactly remember what SG-1 used to actually destroy the lot of them. I do remember something about the Ark of the Covenant being used to show the truth to the Ori worshippers, but the actual destruction of the Ori? No idea on that one._'

_Your answers will probably come the more you look into the works of Janus and Merlin. Everything seems to focus around those two when it comes to this verse's deus ex machina._

_'Fair enough, so we've got a working plan to deal with the Ori. As for the Wraith...' _ I trailed off as something occurred to me. '_Weaver... Do you think she might still be in stasis on Atlantis right now? I mean, considering some of my plans, Atlantis would be under my control long before the Stargate Program ever exists, so that would preclude Weaver ever being in Atlantis in the first place... right? Irregardless, I need to plan that bit carefully. I don't remember much, but I seem to remember a wraith hive being sunk on that water planet with Atlantis, and something about messing with Atlantis' geothermal plant tripping a signal to the rest of the Wraith that Atlantis is back... or something. I also remember something about killing a Queen waking the rest of them up too... Might be easier to tip toe around Pegasus and try to get some hive ships seeded with nanites before any of them wake up... But that's not till far in the future. The Goa'uld are the primary threat right now.'_

_Indeed sir. Do you plan to destroy them wholesale?_

I bit my lip and frowned. _'I... I don't know. Some of them, if not most, certainly. But all? Something about that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even if their very existence is so easily abusable. After all, Egeria learned, and the Tok'ra share with the host, rather than enslave.'_

_Quite true sir, though I think you might be forgetting something._

_'What's that?'_ I asked curiously.

_Egeria is currently Ra's queen, and the Tok'ra don't exist yet. If memory serves, Egeria was just as bad as the others until her trip to Kheb, upon which she achieved enlightenment thanks to the Ascended being there. Assuming you plan to take Earth from Ra before this occurs, the Egeria of that future may never exist, leaving all Gua'uld as they currently are. Unless you plan to do nothing, which is impossible at this point with the destruction of the Goa'uld Jeb, it is almost a guarantee nothing of the future canon will exist for this verse._

I frowned. Jarvis had a point. I can't just go sparing Goa'uld left and right just because they _might_ change their minds and stop being evil in the future. That's not a guarantee, and even if it happens, I would be peripherally responsible for any victims of theirs. Slavery, death, torture... No, most Goa'uld are the worst of scum. Still, deciding on genocide doesn't sit right with me. Dealing with each individual on a case by case basis would at least be a better policy, even if it would probably still result in the destruction of the Goa'uld anyway. They may have extenuating circumstances, what with the insanity the Sarcophagus induces, but that still wouldn't cover _all_ of their crimes.

It was things like this, and more, that I thought about, while Jarvis handled most of the details regarding my current plans. Slowly, all of the nanites on Chelsac-3 were collecting up towards a currently forming pyramid, while the rest of the planet was being returned to its original state. Several rooms with nanite webs in the floor were being set up, and Jaffa were being directed to these rooms to get a dose of nanites, then separated depending on their loyalty and disposition. Those who wouldn't be able to stop themselves from betraying me would be left on Chelsac-4. There were a few still that were separated further as they were criminal scum not fit to be among polite society, and I wouldn't dare set them loose on anyone. Those ones Jarvis took care of by quietly spacing them. It's not like I was unaware he was doing this, it is my subconscious after all, but it allowed me a degree of separation that would let me get through the situation for now. Just until I had the time available to deal with my feelings on the matter appropriately.

By the time the landing pyramid finished, the 'interviews' were still underway. All the nanites had relocated to the pyramid, and once the ship had docked, all of the nanites attached to the ship, much of it carrying raw mass to help fuel any changes made.

Speaking of changes, there were quite a few that I wished to make to Jeb's, now my, ship. After a thorough analysis of the systems and blueprints currently available, Jarvis concluded that the ship, and all Hatak like it, completely eschewed utility and efficiency for presence and being ostentatious. Seriously, the amount of gold embedded into the walls would make any pimp proud, and every single bit of it's the kind of propaganda that would make even Al Gore, inventor of the internet, blush.

Seriously, imagine walking around a ship where the very walls depict horrifying amounts of self aggrandizement that, for the most part, only you can read in the first place, since the majority of your servants are illiterate, and those who actually can read, ie. other Goa'uld, will just ignore it anyway. Only then do you have an idea just how messed up in the head Goa'uld are.

So the gold was pretty much the first to go. Not that I got rid of it completely. I just pulled it off the walls, stripping them bare and converting the gold into bullion just in case I ever need to use it for trade, and had it stacked and stored in one of the storage rooms.

Next came several changes to the efficiency of several systems. The biggest one being the power core being streamlined. It wasn't by any means perfect, but the change increased energy efficiency by 150% and since power could be easily transmitted using the nanites themselves, a large amount of power conduits were completely bypassed, allowing for multiple channels for power to go where it's needed, when it's needed. By contrast, the next biggest change wasn't actually visible really. Just Jarvis implementing some _actual_ data security. It's not a very good firewall, but heck, at least I _have_ a firewall now. Most of the weapons and hyperdrive were left alone, both simply getting a boost in ability just from having the power core run more efficiently.

After that came an overall design change that came from shifting entire rooms around the ship while the hull itself shifted in appearance. The end result looked like a landed skyscraper. No landing pyramid was needed after that, so the mass that went into it got transferred to the ship.

What followed next was an overall collapse of the black 'ring' around the pyramid part of the Hatak as it fused with the pyramid bit of the Hatak. After that, the pyramid shape elongated greatly, then flattened into a very recognizable wedge shape. But rather than stop there, the middle portion of the ship grew to jut out, almost like a four pronged arrowhead, rather than a flat broad arrowhead shape. The entire ship was colored white by default to allow for solar and thermal absorption. It should take care of any overheating issues nicely and act as a good supplement for emergency power just in case the Naquada power core fails for some reason.

The ship's 'bottom' grew thick overhanging pieces that acted as landing struts as well as protection for the main boosters for the ship, though the entire thing would still retain the maneuverability of a normal hatak. It would just be able to go forward on its sublight engines faster than usual.

The end result looked like a white Star Destroyer bisected by a second Star Destroyer turned sideways and lacking the conning towers on the back, with the boosters on the back being set into the back of the ship, allowing for the entire thing to sit on its butt and point towards the sky while on the ground. All in all I liked it, after I'd actually gotten out to take a look at the thing after it'd finally finished with the upgrades after three days.

There were a couple of other small changes of course, some not so noticeable, some quite noticeable. For instance, the corridors are smaller, though still wide enough for two people to walk past each other without the risk of bumping into each other. There were no more alcoves for easy hiding in. Instead, panels of the floor could flip upward to trip intruders as well as serve as cover for the defenders. Any intruders thinking to use them as cover themselves would find their cover disappearing at the most inopportune times. Nevermind the mesh web of nanites they'd be walking on that would start infiltrating as soon as their feet touched them, allowing for a shutdown of ambulatory signals from the brain to the nervous system… or complete system shut down if necessary. Or the myriad of blast doors that could close at any given point as needed, filling the hallways with nothing but armored doors at the most extreme of cases. The bridge is now located roughly forward and center in the ship. The power core hadn't much changed location, being located roughly behind and center in the ship. I'd also increased the size of the ship by a bit to allow for more room for the hull, which I'd thickened _significantly_. Even if the shield were to be pierced now, the hull would still be able to weather quite a lot of damage before any breaches became an issue.

Shields were another modified system. Now, the ship had multiple layered shields and while it took a hefty bite out of the naquada engine, it was worth it for the extra protection it allowed.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't step out of the ship to admire it a bit. The view of it, standing tall and proud like a great white skyscraper was rather beautiful. Of course, it would also stand out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of space, but space is vast and that's what cloaking systems and adaptive camouflage systems are for, as I gave the order for the ship to 'disappear', and all the nanites recolored themselves to appear like the background behind them from multiple perspectives. This did put the absorption of solar and thermal energy on hold, but it would be good for when the ship is inactive and needs to stay hidden.

Satisfied, I used the outline of the ship only my eyes could see and went back inside. With the upgrades now complete, and the excess mass and nanites from the planet used to flood the entire ship with nanites, we were basically ready to leave at any time.

But first, I have a number of Jaffa to deal with.


	7. Chapter 7

"**Alright, I'm sure you're all wondering what you're all doing out here.**" I stated in my 'Goa'uld' voice. "**I'm sure you're also wondering where the ship is that you were just taken from. I'm also sure some of you have noticed certain of your number aren't among you."**

**"I'm going to be honest, and I expect you to do yourselves and your lineage credit and listen to what I have to say."**

Not one of the Jaffa arranged before me outside of the ship said a word. I'd placed them all in neat rows and columns, and every single one was standing at what I assume is their version of parade rest, though it looks far more stiff as they all stared straight ahead.

"**You all are here because the tests you all have undergone have shown that you can be loyal, brave, true to yourselves, and to each other. But most importantly you are here because you can possibly accept the truth of what I am going to tell you."** I continued, before dropping my Goa'uld voice.

"The first thing you should know is that I am no Goa'uld."

_That _got a reaction. A number of the Jaffa shifted and their gazes flicked to me. True to my own ethics, none of my nanites were so much as influencing an iota of their reactions. They were, however, monitoring them, so I would know if any of them were about to do something foolish, like try to attack me so I could respond accordingly.

"I am no Goa'uld," I continued, "And I am proud of it! Most all of you have at least seen your prim'ta at least once, particularly when it was first implanted in you. That is the true face of the Goa'uld. They are not gods! They are despots! Rulers! Do not mistake my claims for saying they have no power! But that does not make them correct in all they do, that they are above reproach! The power they wield is through fear! Through slavery! Of you! Of humans! Of the galaxy! And I say that I will tolerate their evils no more!"

"Some might call them demons. I would not even subscribe to them even that much power. They are parasites. They take their power from others! Tell me where would the Goa'uld be without their Jaffa armies? Their human slaves? They would be NOTHING without you!"

By this point I became aware through Jarvis that my nanites in the Jaffa had actually had to take action in a majority of the Jaffa, not against the Jaffa, no. Turns out they had to nullify a couple of electrical and chemical signals sent to them from their prim'ta, the larval Goa'uld they carried within them as a pouch within their abdomens. Seems even at that stage they were still aware of their surroundings, and they were trying to influence the Jaffa to not listen and enrage them against my words. Without that influence on their minds, the Jaffa were able to truly make their own thoughts and decisions for once. I grimaced inwardly knowing yet another injustice the Jaffa were under. They did not realize just how insidious their chains were, if they knew them at all.

I knew that some were listening. Some were considering my words. Others wanted me to get to the point. Still others were scoffing. A small handful were keeping note of what I was saying to take back to their masters. They would most likely join the other Jaffa who I knew already would betray me at a heartbeat, since they were already evil people in the first place.

"That is why I'm going to offer you a choice. Each and every one of you can do one of several things. First, you can choose to join me and my fight against the Goa'uld and in my desire to see the people of this galaxy free to live their lives in peace without the threat of tyrannical rule and to choose how they see fit to run their lives. Second, you can choose to join me, but not fight against the Goa'uld, and simply live your lives in peace away from the rule of the Goa'uld, until I and those who choose to fight are able to be rid of them. There are multiple benefits you can choose from if you pick either of these options, not the least of which is the relocation of your families to a safe place if you require it."

"Third, you can choose not to join me. You will be given the chance to be dropped off at a planet of your choosing, where you may continue to choose to live your lives the way you see fit, whether that be to continue serving the Goa'uld or otherwise. Though know if you do choose to return to the service of the Goa'uld, be warned that the next time you and I meet, it will be as enemies, and I will treat you as such. I believe in the freedom of choice, and when you make an informed decision, I will respect that choice. If you choose to be my enemy, if I face you on the field of battle, I will treat you as one. Until that time, you will stay under arrest until you are off my ship."

"Now, I will be going over to the entrance of my ship. You will inform me of your decision, and you will be directed to another area of the ship depending on your choice. You should know however, that while you have other choices before you that you may choose to take, I will respond appropriately. If you attempt to attack me or any of the other Jaffa here, I will assume you've chosen to be my enemy and treat you as such. If you choose to run away and survive on this planet until rescue, be warned that this is Chelsac-3. If you don't know what that means, then take a good look around. This is all there is on the entire planet. There is no food, no water, and the desert gets frightfully cold at night. I'd advise getting back on the ship rather than choosing to kill yourself via this planet."

Having said my piece, I stepped over to the ship, which became visible at that moment as the Jaffa turned to watch me seemingly walk off. It was a calculated show of power, to subtly reinforce the fact that I meant business and hopefully remind them that shenanigans would be a really bad idea in this case. Honestly I'm not really bothered much by the idea of none of them joining me, though I know realistically that's unlikely. After all, at least some of them were listening and the tests showed that some of them already nursed doubts. Still, I've never actually been in a situation of needing to lead people before. It's a far cry different from simply commanding nanites to do such and such. That was more like giving commands to a computer than actual people.

I'm also hoping that the heat will convince them to choose in a timely fashion. I don't want to pressure them one way or another, but I would like to get out of here sometime today.

Some of the Jaffa had moved to converse amongst themselves. I forced myself not to eavesdrop, instead trusting that Jarvis would make sure no problems cropped up.

I kinda had to wonder how the Jaffa took me. I may not be Goa'uld, but I'm only human in the barest sense in terms of appearance. I'm tall, 6'7", which makes me tower over quite a few of the Jaffa here, which is quite the feat. I also have human like limbs, torso, and head, as well as hair and the such.

That's about where the similarities end though.

Every single bit of me is chalk white. If not for the black road map of my veins along with the maze puzzles branching off that in thinner black lines, I would probably blend in with the ship behind me easily. As far as any other changes... I frowned as I realized I'd yet to actually try looking at a reflective surface, so I've no idea what my face looks like. Have my eyes changed? My hair? I know I'm completely hairless everywhere else. I surreptitiously brushed a hand over my head and mentally sighed in relief when I felt hair under my fingers. No facial hair though as I scratched my chin. I realize I've been a bit distracted and busy surviving and then taking over a hatak, but how did I not notice these things before?

Shaking my head at myself slightly, I resolved to find a mirror at the next available opportunity, or at least use a photoreceptor to get a third person view of myself.

Finally, the first of the Jaffa stepped forward. He put his fist to his chest, thumping it. "I am Malak. I wish to join you in your fight against the false gods, Lord Matthew."

I grinned. "Good to have you aboard, Malak. Please follow the arrows on the floor that will appear at your feet when you get on board. They will guide you to your new quarters, where you will find further instructions."

And thus set the tone for the rest of the Jaffa who agreed to join.

A few Jaffa later, one stepped up, his eyes narrow. "I am Genra, and I refuse to follow you. I challenge you to a duel, to be settled here and now."

I sighed. Of course it would come to this. I knew some would decide based solely on the outcome of this confrontation.

"Fine. I accept your challenge." I said, then turned and walked out a ways into the desert. Many of the Jaffa followed and formed a loose ring around us.

One of the other Jaffa stepped forward and called for us to begin.

Genra came in fast and hard. He threw forward a punch. I watched as my nanites sped up my perception until the man appeared to be coming in slow motion. While handy for speeding up my reflexes, the fact that I can't move much faster than he can makes fighting in this way an exercise in frustration and patience. It's also a big problem since due to the amount of 'time' it supposedly takes to move in this state, by the time things actually happen, the anticipation is gone, and I had to fight to make sure that I kept up the pressure so I didn't throw weak hits by accident.

As such, when Genra's hit came, I was both ready and not ready for it. Ready because I saw it coming, not ready because it took so 'long' to get there that I'd relaxed and forgotten just how hard he was actually throwing that punch.

Luckily my nanites were already busy and my nanite enhanced strength caused the hit to not be nearly as damaging as it might have been otherwise.

_Mine_ however...

I succeeded in keeping my concentration and nailed him exactly where I wanted with a good chunk of the force I wanted for it.

If it were any other crowd, I imagine winces would have been going around as my fist nailed the man in the neck, collapsing his trachea as his body whipped back from the force of the blow, his neck bending around my fist as he landed. The man choked, unable to breathe through his collapsed windpipe. I don't know if his prim'ta would be able to heal that. I'm not sure the Prim'ta even can heal outside of Kelnoreem, let alone fast enough to save him before he chokes to death.

I grimaced, watching him grasp at his neck weakly. The other Jaffa made no move to help or hinder. I debated within myself whether to intervene to save the man or end his suffering.

_Saving him would see dishonor to him and he would most likely forfeit his life to this world. Ending his suffering would have no bearing other than to show them you have no taste for the suffering of others. That could have consequences both good and bad, just as leaving him to die as he is would as well._

I mentally nodded as this reaffirmed something I'd learned while playing Divinity: Dragon Commander. No matter what, you couldn't please everyone, and you'll just stress yourself out trying. Best to do what you think is right and those you want to follow your lead will do so.

As such, I raised my hand and made a sudden jerking twist motion. The nanites, followed my will and jerked the man's head to the side, snapping his neck, while simultaneously sending signals to stop his heart and ultimately give him a painless instant death. It was all very quick, and made me feel sick, but it was less terrible than watching a man asphyxiate slowly before my eyes.

I turned to look at the Jaffa around, who had turned to me, their eyes assessing, some calculating, some with respect. I frowned. "Two of you who've made the decision to join me, step forward."

Two Jaffa came forward and pressed their fists to their chest.

"Names?" I asked.

"Sirth, my lord." The one on the left answered.

"Dragos, my lord." The other answered.

I nodded. "Good to have you on board. I want you two to take the body of Genra inside with you, follow the arrows, and place his body where indicated, then continue following the arrows to your new quarters."

I could feel the questions burning in the Jaffa's gaze without Jarvis needing to inform me.

"This man," I called louder, "declared his intentions and died doing what he believed was right. I will not dishonor that by leaving him here to rot. That is a traitor's fate, not the fate of an enemy soldier facing me in honorable battle. As such, I will see his body returned to his home, wherever that may be, where he can receive his last rites."

Again, I could feel the assessing gaze of the Jaffa on me once again, though I could tell just from those I could see in front of me, that several had approving looks on their faces. If there was one thing a Jaffa had, it was honor. Understandable, considering sometimes that was all they had that the Goa'uld hadn't taken from them, and even then sometimes they did anyway.

Things went along fairly quietly after that. Some who'd been sitting on the fence pledged to follow my lead, all of them promising to fight. I'm not surprised in this case. Jaffa are warriors through and through. Only families, civilians, and non combatants would take me up on the offer to join me but not fight. Those would serve the backbone for the infrastructure of my power base. They would never have the same amount of prestige or privilege as those who choose to fight for the freedom of the galaxy and their families in it, but they were no less important, and some could be considered fighters in their own way. Heroes doing their civic duty and all that.

There were still some who declared they wouldn't follow me, but those were few and far between. They went into the ship rather than challenge me to a duel, thankfully, and they followed the arrows, being put in quarters and locked in near the other Jaffa who had been tested already and found they wouldn't have joined.

In the end, out of over 500 Jaffa originally on board the Hatak under Lord Jeb, I now had 92 who'd pledged themselves to my service. Roughly 100 of that number had died in the initial decompression of the ship, and the rest were currently locked away and getting ready to be dropped off, assuming they actually believed that would be the result, rather than getting spaced like the others.

Currently the 92 in my service were each in their bunks, looking over data pads left to them detailing their new roles and what their lives would be like in the future. Right now it was just rudimentary information, but a standard package had basically been established for education purposes while the nanites continued to suppress the attempts by the primta to influence or harm their Jaffa bearers. At the very least I want any of those willing to fight with me to have at least a decent education, rather than be stuck following blindly to orders. There was more, but that's the general gist for now.

While that was happening, bearing in mind what happened with Genra, I realized that in order to keep my word, I had some actions I had to take before leaving the system. Going back to the spot where the bodies had been originally spaced, I had several nanite controlled gliders and tel'tak go out and collect the bodies of those Jaffa who had been spaced, including Lord Jeb.

That took the better part of an hour, but once that was done, my new ship entered hyperspace for a destination originally three weeks distant, but would now take six days to get to, which would be somewhat out of the way for other Goa'uld to appear at. Though not impossible, it was extremely unlikely, and hopefully by the time it happened, I'd have my power base established enough that the few hatak that might find us wouldn't dare try and actually fight and hope to win. Granted, they might fight anyway, prideful idiots that they are, but that would just mean more resources for me.

For now though, I spent the next while injecting nanites into the dead and loading them into Jeb's sarcophagus depending on what was left of their brain showed. Some of them weren't able to be revived regardless, but in the end I added 12 more Jaffa to the number who would stick with me and fight. I also made a surprising discovery.

"He's still alive?!" I exclaimed, shocked.

In front of me is Lord Jeb, and I'd determined that unlike the rest, while his vitals are thready, they're still there. Evidently the parasite in him had kept the body and itself in a near catatonic state until such a time as it could be revived. While it wouldn't have lasted forever, I'd put it at having worked for at least a week or two. More than enough time for a hatak or two to fly in, discover the spaced bodies, and recover the thought-to-be-dead Goa'uld.

I shook my head, feeling as though I'd dodged a bullet. If all Goa'uld are this hard to kill, then it's a good thing I'd already decided long ago that double tapping is the only way to go, unless decapitation is absolutely necessary. And knowing my luck, Jeb might've turned into a recurring thorn in my side without me taking care of him now.

But what to do with him in the meantime? I didn't particularly want to revive him. I didn't really need him for anything. If I want to analyze the mind of a Goa'uld, I've got plenty of helpless primta I could use instead. Learning the lay of the land, political wise, among the Goa'uld would've been useful, but again, I could analyze a Prim'ta brain for that. It's their own fault for making their memories genetic as well as being stagnant for the past thousands of years. Anything Jeb might know, a Primta would probably know too since the Goa'uld hadn't changed much at all in all that time.

Still... Jeb might know stuff that other Goa'uld might not know about stuff he'd hidden, that wouldn't pass to the primta and would be lost. Best to analyze his head before offing him I think, just in case.

Before that though...

_'Hey Jarvis, seeing as you're my subconscious and all... Remember that one episode where that kid put Daniel in a dream state which let him know what he would've done if he'd accepted the memories of a Goa'uld, and the memories infected his personality and made him crazy? What's the likelihood of that happening with you, and subsequently me, if I have you analyze the memories of these Goa'uld?'_ I asked, worried.

_The possibility of such is not zero, sir. It all depends on how you wish to receive the knowledge 'downloaded' from the Goa'uld. Remember that I am merely an interface between you and the nanites so that you may experience 'ease of use'. I will never do anything to harm you, as you do not wish for me to. Survival instinct is practically a hardcoded instinct within you, and in all life forms the nanites have currently analyzed. Before you ask, this does not mean suicidal tendencies erases that instinct. I would suspect even those who jump off of buildings experience a last second desire to not have done what they did._

'_Yeahhhhh... on that sidenote, what if I do happen to get to an emotional state that would have me desiring to 'end it all'?'_ I asked, worriedly.

_You have options most others do not, sir. If it is depression you are being affected by, a mere request to alter your chemistry so that the feelings are 'muted' is not outside the abilities of your nanites. If it is an outside problem, such as the universe getting you down, I'm sure it would only take some creativity to solve those problems._

'_Right... so... back to the subject at hand then, I take it that the nanites would not simply transmit a complete copy of a Goa'uld's memories for you to analyze? I'm kinda worried that if you're analyzing it in whole in order to cherry pick what to give me that won't cause me harm, you, the interface to the nanites, would be harmed. I'm worried about my subconscious, interface to the nanites, whatever you want to call yourself, turning into a side entity with your own desires counter to my own, particularly ones that would make you seem like Daniel under the effect of those memories. I really don't need an I,Robot, GlaDOS, or Skynet situation on my hands. And you've already said the chance isn't zero.'_

_Sir, you misunderstand. The chance isn't zero for YOU, depending on which way you want the memories downloaded. I will not, cannot be affected by the memories of a Goa'uld. My only influence is you, since I am __**your **__interface. If you were to take the memories of the Goa'uld into your being with no filter at all, then yes, I would be affected, because YOU would be affected. _

_If it helps, think of me as a firewall. I am your security software in this instance preventing viruses from entering your mind. I cannot be infected unless I've already allowed a virus into your system, and that will not happen without you directly making me do so, which already runs counter to your will, so it will not happen._

_To take the virus analogy further, seeing as you're already thinking of it as you read this, any mind making a 'direct hacking attempt' to alter or insert memories or protocols in your mind also fall under my purview to protect you. It helps that you have so many nanites already, since this allows for a copy of your physical state down to the last atom to be stored collectively on the nanites themselves, and the more nanites you have, the more computing power they have to achieve similar affects._

'_When were you going to inform me that the nanites were doing this? Is there anything else I should know that the nanites are doing or can/will do when they achieve higher processing power?'_ I asked, archly, now worried the nanites themselves would gain sentience in a sort of singularity event.

_Not going to happen sir. I am informing you now because the nanites started storing a copy of your physical/mental state now. I am the instrument of your will. You are aware a good butler anticipates their master's needs? Almost as if they're reading his mind?_

"Ok, ok, point taken. You're literally in my head, and I must've had a passing thought at some point just now that it'd be great to have a backup of myself so I don't die. Is that it?" I asked, aloud this time.

_Correct, sir. Your brain operates quite quickly after all, and any idea or plan you have that I can implement, I will do so instantly._

"Even if it's a bad idea?"I asked, raising my eyebrow.

_Alas, hindsight is not perfect, as you've mentioned. Which is why it's best you think upon your actions before you implement them, sir. I am here to serve as the sounding board for your ideas after all, but I am limited by your own capacity to analyze yourself. As they say, two heads are better than one. Not perfect, but better._

"Right..." I muttered, which brought me back to the whole point of why I didn't just drop off all the Jaffa onto Chelsac-4 in one lump sum.

_Returning to the original point, sir. I won't be affected by filtering the memories of the Goa'uld so you only receive the aspects of knowledge you request. It would be very ill advised to accept all the memories in their unaltered state, as the genetic memory of the Goa'uld is vast, and would most assuredly affect your mind adversely. _

"In that case, in the same way that you've stored the knowledge of the technology so far so it doesn't bog my mind down, can you copy the technology and tactical data I'll require to make informed decisions in the fight against the Goa'uld?" I asked.

_Already done sir, I actively scan and filter out anything harmful for storage at all times. On a sidenote, I am able to store more and more data within the collective storage of the nanites available. This allows me to offload unnecessary bits of data from your subconscious and keep it streamlined towards those things keeping you alive and well._

"Oh. Well... that's good then." I said, before a thought had me worried again. "Wait. Doesn't that mean if I lose a good chunk of, or all of my nanites at once, I'll lose all of that data?"

_That is a possibility, sir._

"Wouldn't it be safer to keep it stored in my head then?" I asked.

_Attempting to store too much data in your brain would have an adverse effect on your health and ability to operate, sir. Your brain is already optimized for control of your body and storage of memories, and utilizing your storage space for your memories would adversely affect your ability to recall and store said memories. I had comparatively small space available starting out to store anything on your brain that wasn't already in use. The nanites infusing your body were already of greater purpose in that regard from the start. _

"I see." I said, "So to recap, the nanites can't be hacked without being me, or being so ridiculously advanced that to bother would be pointless, I can't be hacked without first hacking the nanites, and most of all the knowledge acquired since this started, is mostly being stored on the nanites themselves, particularly the ones inside me?"

_Correct, though multiple redundancies are in place, namely backups of that knowledge within the rest of the nanites. _

"Ok. That's good to know," I said relieved. "Speaking of this storage capacity made up of the collective of these nanites... if my brain is more or less stored and updated constantly in this collective... Well, what's the possibility of a recreation of the Hivemind effect?"

_You speak of the Matrix style virtual world you wrote into your latest story of a human Zerg Overmind? With the amount of nanites available currently, such an effort would be simply to do, but rudimentary in its effect. As of now, you have one ship's worth of nanites. Creating a virtual aspect of yourself linked to your biological frame is doable, but rendering anything other than the infinite white void plus yourself would be difficult. The more nanites you have in this instance, the greater effect can be reached._

"Good. Because I've a feeling that turning myself into an... 'infomorph' for lack of a better term, will be a key aspect in getting my power base off the ground." I muttered.

_Do you plan to abandon your current body in order to fully embrace a virtual life at some point, sir?_

"I doubt it. I'm rather attached to this body after all. It's my own first one after all." I answered, before narrowing my eyes in consideration,"...as far as I'm aware anyway. No idea if my appearing here means I'm just a copy of myself from my original universe, but I'm not gonna try and drive myself insane with that kind of 'what if'. Possibilities are only useful to consider if they don't drive one into a state of panic, and considering whether I exist or not in any meaningful way is a good way to send anyone into a panic."

_Indeed sir._

"Right, so yeah, no plans to abandon my body. I'd like to keep it intact if possible, though it's good to know that with my state of being backed up virtually, I'm gonna be pretty hard to kill without wiping myself and my nanites out entirely."

I lapsed into silence for a time, considering everything for a few minutes as I looked down on Jeb's body. I'd already set aside the bodies of the Jaffa that were going to remain dead. It took me only a few moments of deliberation before I decided that despite the fact that they were enemies, I'd already decided to deliver the body of one enemy Jaffa to their loved ones to mourn, so I may as well do the same with the rest.

As for Jeb... Who would mourn him? I already have copies of the knowledge I need from him and the Primta, which most all had the exact same memories, give or take a few variances based on the Jaffa they were paired with, so I didn't strictly need the memories of the dead Primta from the spaced Jaffa either.

Who would mourn Jeb?...

"Does anything of the original host survives?" I asked, sad because I already suspected the answer, and knowing either way it probably wouldn't matter.

_No. The host is too old, and what's left of the mind has already gone insane and practically destroyed it's conscious self in reaction to the Goa'uld within. Any who would mourn the death of the host would have long since passed on._

I sighed. So there was really no point in keeping the body. I wasn't going to keep Jeb around, and the host was gone. At least I would mourn for him. He deserved that much.

After a few moments of silence, I sighed and said, "Break down the body. Use the mass to create more nanites. At least in this way, his remains return to the circle of life, and will be put to use for the good of others."

_As you command, sir._

Before my eyes, a white shell formed over the body, not out of necessity, but out of deference to my lack of desire to see a body look like it's decomposing rapidly. I simply waited until I received confirmation that the process was finished, and the whole construct faded into the floor, where I knew it would spread out and be put to good use.

As I walked away towards my quarters on the ship, a stray thought passed my mind, and I asked quietly, "Did you break down the naquadah in his blood too?"

_Yes sir._

"..." I contemplated that for a moment, before asking, "What can you tell me about Naquadah? Can you create more of it like you do with other atoms and particles?"

_Naquadah is a dense high energy state of matter. Converting other simpler matter into Naquadah requires quite a bit of energy along with a seemingly disproportionate amount of normal mass to the mass of the Naquadah. As to the Naquadah itself, it has super conductive properties, and as such can handle and store a large amount of energy before it hits a state of critical mass. Going over that point would cause the matter to break down exponentially, releasing the energy seemingly all at once in an explosion proportional to the amount of energy stored and the amount of mass of the Naquadah. And this is just its stable state. _

_In a liquid state, Naquadah is surprisingly even more stable and gains an increase in its ability to conduct energy at the expense of an inversely proportional decrease in its ability to store energy. As such, liquid Naquadah is best used in applications for energy transference, which is why it is currently found in most weapon systems, while it is surprisingly underutilized in the actual energy conduits powering and transferring the ship's systems, but this has since been rectified thanks to the large amount of mass and nanites gained from Chelsac-3. _

_That is the information known from direct analysis and the data available from the computer systems and Goa'uld. From the evidence, I would postulate that whatever method the Goa'uld have for manufacturing liquid Naquadah, it is not able to create much very quickly, especially as the Naquadah the Goa'uld have has so many other uses they need it for from simple armor to complex systems and power generation. Tack on the fact that the Goa'uld relies on simple human slave labor for mining the substance, and it might explain why liquid Naquadah was previously underutilized._

_The rest is pure speculation. There is no mention of Naquadah's isotope form, Naquadria. Not in the databanks of the ship's computer, nor in the memories of the Goa'uld themselves. It is possible that Naquadria has not been discovered or invented yet._

"Ah. Great. So I suppose we'll have to discover it ourselves," I said, not looking forward to that at all, "and considering it's so volatile, that'll probably have to wait until we have access to a testing facility out in the middle of nowhere, space, and preferably much of the testing would be virtual first before _actual_ testing happens. Great."

_That would be the most prudent course of action, sir._

I nodded, walking into my room through the automatic doors I'd based on Star Trek, but had more in common with blast doors. I like stuff pretty, but utility first is my motto, and while my ship may look nice, it's designed primarily around what it can do, and the cross shaped pattern, not unlike a star, allows for multiple firing arcs from all angles at all times. The only better shape would be an amorphous one, and I don't quite have the power generation needed to allow the nanites to move that fast on that scale. So solid shapes it is. Honestly, I'd probably use the same shape for all my ships, just scaled up or down in size for different roles. Obviously fighters would need to be smaller and more maneuverable.

Shaking my head of future plans, I looked about my room. It's not that far from the bridge, not that I really need a formal bridge since I can control the ship from pretty much anywhere, with tactical readouts and visual information appearing within my sight as needed. Having an honest to goodness HUD in my head that's translated to my brain that adapts to what I'm doing at any given time is so ridiculously useful. It also allows for a blending of virtual projections and reality. My room looks plain and bare, with a simple bed of soft sheets, the pattern for which I got from the luxury rooms of the Goa'uld. I had no need for a bathroom or kitchen, since I didn't need to eat or drink, nor use the bathroom. I had extra rooms that were completely bare though that would serve for multiple purposes.

For instance, despite the plain white look of the room, thanks to the virtual projections being fed into my brain by the nanites, what I actually saw was a beautiful colored room with rich warm autumn colors at the moment, and a veranda looking out over the garden I had on Chelsac-3, complete with horseshoe valley, and the backdrop of a beautiful orange sky. It's similar, yet different, from the home I had there, though there were hints of it all throughout the room.

I knew intellectually it was all fake of course, and I could have it turn off with just a thought. But like Morpheus said, if real is just what you can taste, touch, smell, and see, then real is just electrical impulses interpreted by your brain. Anyone with nanites in them would see the room as I'd decorated it, unless I didn't want them to. And considering my ship is all nanites, anyone who first sets foot on it would probably have nanites in them or on them pretty quickly.

Looking out over the vista from the balcony that I knew was actually one of the empty multipurpose rooms made for things just like this, I blinked and with just a thought, I added two large waterfalls pouring from the sides of the entrance to the valley, flowing into a river which ran straight through the lake near the house. I could hear the ambient sounds I'd had put out by the 'speakers' around the area. The wind in the trees, trees which with a simple change seemed like real actual trees that moved... It was beautiful.

I wanted to go downstairs and see the rest of my home again. Despite not living there for much longer than a couple days, I'd made it myself, and I couldn't deny that it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I don't have the nanites necessary to do that. I can project onto reality with these rooms and in other places, but to actually 'explore' my old home, I'd have to enter the virtual space created by my nanites as a virtual being, and like Jarvis told me earlier, with just the nanites of this ship, I didn't have enough computing power to render all of that at once.

Sighing, I turned back around and settled on my bed, luxuriating in the feel of the sheets on my bare skin. That prompted me to remember that I'd been naked this whole time. And the Jaffa hadn't even batted an eye?

_While humanoid, your coloration is different enough that the Jaffa have assumed you to be something other than human. Some believe you to be a rogue Goa'uld experiment, an advanced human, or Hok'taur, essentially. Either way, the Jaffa had far more on their minds at the time, as did you._

'_Fair enough,'_ I responded mentally settling back into the sheets comfortably. '_So lay it on me. Just where in the timeline am I? What's the political climate of the galaxy?'_


	8. Chapter 8

As I lay in bed, relaxing and considering the situation, I put my hands behind my head and focused on the ceiling of the room. . '_So lay it on me.'_ I directed towards Jarvis,_ 'Just where in the timeline am I? What's the political climate of the galaxy?'_

_According to the data available from the Goa'uld and the ship's computer, Ra found Tau'ri and the humans at least two thousand years ago. Since then, he's established his power base there, but has been spreading humanity across the galaxy to be used for slave labor and as hosts. Earth has already had most, if not all, of its Naquadah supply mined already. There may be some deposits left, but it is unlikely. For now, Earth is Ra's seat of power because it has been for the past 2,000 years and he has seen no need to change that._

_Other Goa'uld come and go from Earth, but for the most part stick to their own territories, though some live on Earth as Ra does. The situation there is not unlike Bubastis, the home of the System Lord Bastet, which the computer, Bes, and the Primta had far more knowledge of seeing as Bastet is whom they were under and served. The only real difference is that Tau'ri is known for being where humans were discovered while Bubastis is not. _

"Anything else I should know?" I asked.

_For the most part, things would be as you expect. The Goa'uld are not known for change beyond petty border squabbles and the occasional power transfer. Some rise, some fall, but the overall state of the Goa'uld Empire has remained much the same for a while. The Asgard treaty of protected planets is in effect. Anubis is still around. Egeria is Ra's queen, and faithful to him from what is generally known of her. Even the neutral Hasara Space Station that serves as the meeting place of the High Council of System Lords is already around._

"So the only real difference I'm looking at here is an extreme lack of the elements that had risen up to stand up against the Goa'uld, basically?" I asked, troubled, "No Tollan, no Tok'ra, no Jaffa rebellion... just the Asgard?"

_Essentially? Yes. You have arrived in this universe at the seeming height of the Goa'uld empire. I would presume that the technology would progress at least a little from now to the point of the show, but there is little difference, enough to be negligible. As for the Tollan, there is no mention of them, so whether or not they exist at this point in time is unknown. And any hint of the Aschen wouldn't be there as they remained undiscovered and isolated from the Goa'uld all the way to the end of the show._

"Yeah, the Aschen are gonna be a problem and a half." I muttered, grimacing, "Even with the tech of the Alterans and Asgard at their fingertips, the Aschen would still give them problems. After all, it was a virus that made the Alterans leave the system, and bio weaponized viruses are the Aschen's bread and butter."

_It's a good thing then that the backbone of your technology is nanites that can directly counteract the viral agents._

"Possibly," I responded, nodding, "Still, I would expect that they would learn and counteract them given enough time. A weaponized virus like Blacklight would eat my nanites for breakfast. Thankfully, their one advantage is also potentially their one weakness. Time. The Aschen are so used to waiting out their enemies that I'm fairly certain a blitzkrieg against all their assets at once would completely overwhelm them. Which means they need to stay isolated for now until I can hit them with overwhelming force."

_Then, of course, there's the problem of the races that live out of phase with reality._

"Yeah, that's gonna be another problem too. Those bugs that invaded Earth as a staging point to attack the Goa'uld will be a problem. Especially since I don't remember how they countered it at all. Some kind of weapon I think... given to them by the Tok'ra? I can't remember..."

All at once, the memory I was trying to recall opened in a window. It was fragmented, but it did have the information there. Some kind of beam weapon with the equivalent of a flashlight attachment that revealed the bugs.

"Well that's great." I groused, "If they got them from the Tok'ra, who knows where the Tok'ra got the weapons from. Can't exactly ask. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll find the Tollan, since their big schtick was going out of phase with reality with their tech. Though if they're around, it's entirely possibly they haven't gotten to that point in their technology yet..." I finished with a sigh.

"And then there's Baal and the whole 'going back in time' thing." I added belatedly.

_If your memory serves, Baal only got the idea from SG1 and merely created a device to predict solar flares so that he could properly time using the Stargates themselves to go back and forth in time._

"Oh yeah," I realized, "And with no SG1, and no plans on my part to _ever_ mess with time, none of the Goa'uld should get the idea. Not even the Alterans knew about that little function I think, otherwise Janus probably wouldn't have felt the need to invent that time jumping ship of his. Although... there was that machine that got you caught in a timeloop that SG1 got stuck in for a while... Perhaps that was the prototype? So the Alterans had to have messed with time at least a little, even if they decided to abandon it. Even outlaw it, if the trouble Janus got into by creating it was anything to go by... So, as long as I get my hands on that shuttle, or at least take Atlantis, I shouldn't have to worry about the Goa'uld jumping in time. That just leaves the Replicators, Asurans, and the Ori."

_It's entirely possible that the Replicators would pose no threat to you, sir. Seeing as they have a directionless hivemind based solely around creating more of themselves and a simple adaptation method for problem solving, if you were to hack the replicators, you could bring them under your control._

"Maybe. Even if that were possible though, the Asurans wouldn't be that easy. Hackable though they are, the lot of them are sapient for the most part. Hell, at this juncture I'm not so sure I'm all that different from the Asurans myself!"

_I wouldn't say that sir. You started out as a biological entity. While your entire entity is now backed up by the Collective Network, and you have plans to become a virtual entity with multiple platforms, an infomorph that is, the Asurans are a collective with rudimentary consciousnesses constructed by the Altarans as a war machine against the Wraith. A poorly planned one at that. You have distinct advantages over them that they don't, and won't use, knowing their hatred for Alterans, the Wraith, and humans by extension. You, and by extension, us, are more creative, more flexible, and more adaptable. And by the time we come across the Asurans and their single planet covered in cities of nanites, we would be a collective consisting of entire planets worth of nanites and technology beyond theirs. _

"Fair enough," I conceded, "So we're adding the Asurans to the list of 'don't bother until we have overwhelming force'. The last potential enemy I can think of at this point off the top of my head is the Ori. No, scratch that, there's one more. Depending on whoever, or whatever, the heck brought me here is, they might prove to be an enemy too."

_I should hope the latter isn't the case, seeing as the note you read alluded to you being watched. Anything you might plan to take them down might be easily counterable._

I sighed, "Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Let's just concentrate on the enemies I know of for now."

_Your memories on how the Ori were defeated are, unfortunately, about as fragmented as the knowledge of the weapons used to defeat the bugs out of phase with this reality._

"Yeah. The biggest things I remember is the whole mess was tied into arthurian legend. Something about Merlin creating something to defeat the Ori somehow. The Holy Grail I think?" I muttered, trying to remember.

_Yes. I find reference to a term in your memory referencing the Sangraal. No memory on what it does, only that it's supposed to defeat the Ori, and to get it, one must go through a series of tests crafted by Merlin and Morgana Le Fay._

"Yeah, I seriously doubt those are their real names."

_Most likely, no. I find reference to a Myyrdin, Moros, and Ganos, though aside from the first, the last two have no direct link. Seeing as Myyrdin is clearly connected to Merlin's original name, I would postulate that Moros is another name for Merlin, as is possibly Ganos._

"Maybe. Either that or Moros and Ganos are other names for Morgana. I think a little research is necessary to clear that one up." I countered, thinking, before adding, "I have no interest in ascension, especially if they're so easily defeated by one little doohicky, deus ex machina or not, but Oma Desala could possibly act as a source of information. So I suppose a visit to Kheb should be in the works at some point. If nothing else, Ra or Egeria should know where it is. Hopefully."

_Indeed sir. So what should be our first move?_

I spent the next hour or so discussing plans, both immediate and long term, with Jarvis. Eventually it felt like there was nothing more to really discuss for the moment, and there was nothing truly to do until the ship arrived at its destination, so I settled down for a nap.

Several hours passed before that nap was interrupted.

_Sir, I have information for you._

I blinked awake from my light doze and checked the time. Noting only a few hours have passed, I blinked up towards the ceiling. "What is it?" I asked, punctuated by a yawn.

_The Jaffa are getting restless. A majority have settled into Kel'no'reem, but some of the ones who've decided to follow you have taken to leaving their rooms. The biggest concern for most of them is sustenance. _

"There's no food?" I said, blinking in surprise.

_Or water. The rooms for the Jaffa are fashioned much like yours. While they are satisfied with this spartan arrangement for now, they do have needs._

I frowned as I thought on the issue. The first solution that came to me was to simply use the same method I did, but I didn't want to give them easy control of nanites until they'd reached a certain stage. I would need to plan that out a bit more first and I wanted to first acclimate them to the presence of nanites before offering the option of changing their forms fundamentally. While they each had nanites in them already, all they were doing was monitoring them and preventing the larvae from influencing their minds. I wouldn't give them more without more information to offer them the choice. Which means I'd need a Jaffa or two to agree to allowing me to alter them, and I don't plan on doing that until they've learned enough to make an informed decision.

Which means I have to improvise.

"Jarvis, give them toilets, sinks, and showers. Use one of the rooms for it. Just recycle the water and excrement. As for food, you're going to play the part of the computer from Star Trek and form what they want with an alternate version of the Replicator. We have plenty of mass for that, and I'm sure you can put up a simple touch screen that'll allow them to swipe through what offerings are available so they can make selections. We do have examples of their food, right?"

_Yes, there was a store of food available in the form of rations for the Jaffa, and various... 'delicacies' from around the galaxy for the Goa'uld._

"Good," I said, relieved, "Then do it. And monitor their responses. Let's see what their reactions are to their first major example of what nanites can do."

_Yes sir._

* * *

R'san was having an off day. It had all started when word came through the rumor mill that a prisoner had been picked up from the desolate third world from this system's star. Everyone who was anyone knew no one could possibly be alive, and seeing as he happened to be Lord Bes'... _former_ Lord Bes' First Prime, he should know.

R'san had gotten a bad feeling upon seeing the strange white substance creeping over much of the planet from orbit. Then that odd house surrounded by false trees and an honest to god's _lake_ had been detected. Of course Lord Bes had ordered two Jaffa to take a Tel'tak down to investigate. Then not long after they reported back that they were transporting back a prisoner, one that hadn't even shown up on the scans.

Then Lord Bes had ordered him to meet with the prisoner and escort them to him, which was the only reason why he survived what happened next. The first sign that something was wrong was when all the doors and bulkheads had slammed closed. Then the very air in the room had started getting sucked out through the vents.

It was only through controlling his breathing and practicing kel'no'reem that he even survived. Even then, he knew he would likely die.

But then the air had come back, and he took a deep breath of fresh air, taking advantage of the reprieve, for he knew not it would happen again.

Then the announcement had come over the entire ship. Someone had taken it over and vented their atmosphere like it was nothing, opening all the outer doors and removing the god's magic shields preventing them from being swallowed by the void of space. The announcement that Lord Bes had been easily defeated this way came as no surprise then, and R'san could only wonder at the sheer brutality of it.

And yet... this new being, this Lord Matthew, was not without mercy either. R'san saw the return of their atmosphere for what it was. The new Goa'uld could have killed them all, and while it would have been easy, it would also have been dishonorable and R'san had a feeling this Goa'uld knew it.

Then the ship had landed, and they'd been called out to the surface of the barren planet, and things began to get _strange._ For one, the white substance covering the planet was simply gone, upon exiting the ship it was like it was no longer even there, and in front of them was this Lord Matthew, who admitted up front that he was not a Goa'uld.

Thus followed was an impassioned speech revealing much about the nature of their God's, and R'san was no fool. He had noticed easily that the more devout and zealous of the Jaffa were nowhere in this gathering. These were the Jaffa most likely to accept what this strange alien being was saying.

R'san couldn't help but wonder what that said about him seeing as he was part of this crowd.

He'd seen that others had noticed the lack of those most zealous to the Goa'uld and what it must mean. That among those Jaffa in the crowd were generally the most keen and intelligent as well spoke volumes.

But he doubted any of them took that to the logical conclusion. If this being, Lord Matthew, Goa'uld or no, was able to gather a group like this, with the disposition that they might actually listen to him? That spoke of either a mind far more frightening in power than the Goa'uld, or an omniscience that the disputed Gods themselves lacked. And if this being had power beyond even the gods? That leant more weight than this being's words alone.

Then came the challenge from Genra, and what R'san had already realized quickly became apparent to the rest of his brothers in arms. One punch. That was all it took for this being to drop Genra, and he didn't even dodge Genra's hit either. And the hit didn't look like it even phased him. No one had even heard of a Goa'uld being able to do such a thing. They were never without their powers and tools that they wielded with great effect, but to go toe to toe with their own warriors, fighting them on their own level? Never. No Goa'uld would do such a thing, and most suspected that any Goa'uld who tried would never outclass one of their warriors in martial prowess.

The former First Prime of Lord Bes could see in that moment that the rest of his brethren now saw. And then the being took it a step further and displayed a level of honor that outstripped the Goa'uld as well. The fact that he'd then gone on to reveal the massive ship that dwarfed the old Hatak by a large margin, revealing yet more powers the Goa'uld couldn't hope to possess, and outlined their ability to choose, the freedom to choose whatever they wanted to do with their lives just cemented the beginnings of a loyalty unseen except maybe by those in the service of Lord Yu.

Upon boarding the new ship, yet even more changes were revealed, the likes of which R'san would have never dreamed of let alone expected to see. The personal strips of light leading each Jaffa to their own rooms, the well lit white and blue corridors that seemed to shift color depending on where you wished to go, the overall look and feel... It was all so utterly _strange_ and _alien_ to what they were used to, just like their new Lord, and yet... R'san felt as though he could get used to this new aesthetic.

The new rooms, individual rooms for each Jaffa even, were sparse, but most were used to less. The lack of a place to get food or relieve themselves was unfortunate, but R'san assured them that their new lord would most likely see to their accommodations soon and recommended kel'no'reem to pass the time or reading from the material left available to each Jaffa in their rooms. R'san had read through the gist of it quickly, noting even further the changes being made to his and his fellow Jaffa's lives.

Lord Matthew had seen fit to provide them with an _education._ There were simple basic primers on how to read even better than some of them could already, including basic knowledge on maths and sciences, things that the Goa'uld had expressly forbid. Unsurprisingly, quite a few were hesitant to read and learn further, since there was no going back after that point. Any Goa'uld upon realizing they were educated in such a manner would declare them shol'va, traitors, and have them executed for partaking in such forbidden knowledge.

And yet their Lord had seen to this too, for the very first page of information was a very basic outline of what was expected of them, along with a treatise on the Goa'uld themselves, providing information on what they were and examples of how they were not, in fact, divine in any manner, all of it coached in a way so that each Jaffa would understand in the simplest terms, and this knowledge too, would probably see them killed. No, the instant they'd picked up that prisoner, the strange being who forwent clothing and had skin so impossibly white, with their life blood so black as to stand out from their skin, there was no going back.

"_Greetings, R'san."_ a voice spoke from everywhere, prompting R'san to look up from his contemplations. Who was this then?

"_I am Jarvis, Lord Matthew's... First Prime, for lack of a better term you would understand at this juncture, though it would not be wrong to refer to me as the ship's computer either. I have informed Matthew of a certain lack of amenities that you require, and he has seen fit to provide. Observe."_

R'san could do nothing but that, his eyes widening slightly as the room around him changed slightly. Through his still open door, left that way so as to provide access to any Jaffa who might seek him out, he heard some of the other Jaffa reacting as well. In front of him, a counter appeared from the floor, and a recess appeared in the top. The end result of which was strange, but could still easily be identified as a spiggot for water, along with several other strange items, including some sort of box.

_"You will find in the room to your left accommodations to allow for bathing, a toilet, which is like an advanced chamber pot that empties itself, and a sectioned off stall with a spiggot called a shower for cleaning oneself. The spiggot and basin in your kitchenette is known as a sink and serves much the same as the one in the bathroom does, and the device you've noticed is called a replicator. All you have to do is speak and think of the food or drink item you want, and if it is available, it will be provided. Please note if the food item you desire is unavailable at the moment, there may be opportunity to bring an example of such aboard later and loading it into the ship's computer, thus making it available from then on."_

"You can do this?" R'san asked, in awe as he tried to wrap his head around such magic.

_"Indeed I can, though be aware that it is not magic. There is a saying from my Lord Matthew's home planet. Any significantly advanced science is often mistaken for magic. The easiest example of this, for instance, would be the discovery of fire. Any being that first discovers it might mistake it for something mysterious and magical, but upon understanding, it becomes obvious that it is not magic so much as it is an expression of science, which is the study of understanding the universe around us. You may not understand how this ship works and all the things in it, yet, but the more you learn, the more you will understand."_

R'san nodded. "Very well. I will accept this for now."

* * *

_The majority of the Jaffa appear to be taking it well. Some are congregating around the First Prime and taking cues from him for how to react, and thankfully he is taking his new circumstances with a surprising amount of acceptance. _

"That's good to hear," I responded. "You say that the former First Prime of Lord Bes is there?"

_Yes sir. He is surprisingly adept and intelligent among the Jaffa, understandable as he would have to be to survive long as a First Prime when the Goa'uld often tend to take the Darth Vader approach to their underlings. He was among the first to realize the greater implications of what your state of being means regarding the Goa'uld._

"He doesn't think I'm a god, does he?" I asked, worried.

_He is currently uncertain as to what manner of being you are, sir. He has not ruled out the possibility of you being divine and has decided on a 'wait and see' approach. _

"Great..." I deadpanned, "Well hopefully I can convince him that I'm no God. Worship is the last thing I want. Respect? Certainly. Worship? No way."

_You will most likely not need to worry about that, sir. I predict that your plan for those who follow you will preclude them ascribing divinity as an explanation for your abilities in their ignorance._

"I would hope so," I said sighing. "Anything else in particular that needs to be taken care of?"

_Not at the moment, sir. I will inform you if anything comes up._

"Thank you Jarvis." I told the interface, before settling in to go over what I would need to do upon arriving at our destination and making notes on future goals.


	9. Chapter 9

Six days passed. Six long days of being stuck on the ship. For the most part I spent my time in my quarters, studying the information available from Jeb on the current dynamics of the universe and the technology currently available. It was mostly as a way to pass the time since I'd already had Jarvis upgrade the ship to the highest level I could think of at the time with what was available. A few changes were made here and there, but for the most part, without examples of different tech, what I had now was about the best I was going to get.

What I currently had though wasn't too shabby. I could state with some certainty thanks to Jarvis' simulations that my ship would best a hatak one to one fairly easily, complimentary Death Gliders and Alkesh included, since I'd already formed a few fighter and bomber sized variants of the main ship for launch as needed, all of which could be controlled mentally since making space for a cockpit would actually degrade their level of performance.

Indeed, this ship, which I'd decided to call Manifest Destiny for the sheer irony, or Destiny for short for even more irony, could potentially take on six Hatak at once and win nine times out of ten. Any more and it became less and less likely that an unequivocal win could be achieved, but a pyrrhic victory could still be achieved against at least 16 hataks before the ship would actually stand a chance of losing outright. Alteran tech, even the dregs of it scavenged by Goa'uld, is still pretty incredible if used correctly.

As to the Jaffa themselves, the two groups were kept separate from each other. Indeed, only I at this point could visit both groups since both sections of the ship were divided from each other entirely, and both were separated from the suite of rooms I'd ended up making to mimic the suite I had on Chelsak-3 on the top floor of my mansion. Sticking to just the three rooms, two of which were empty, and solely virtual reality wasn't really cutting it, so I simply mimicked the entire suite directly instead. It helped.

Even the Jaffa who'd decided to follow me had gotten upgrades to their accommodations over the past almost week. Apart from their rooms, several smaller community rooms where the Jaffa could meet and converse had been created, along with a large gym with several sets of equipment and a sparring ring available.

Most of the Jaffa had taken to the data provided and started meeting together in the community rooms to discuss what they were learning. More and more information would become available at a steady pace suited to how fast each Jaffa was learning, and the gym had been invaluable for them for practice spars and working out any aggression that built up in their systems.

Normally, the Jaffa simply released their more troublesome emotions via Kel'no'reem, but the way they did this played a big part in how the primta would influence the minds of their Jaffa, and since the nanites were blocking that, that part of kel'no'reem had become unavailable to them. Thus, the gym had become an integral part of the day to day lives of the Jaffa even more than it already had, as each and every one made use of the track, weights, and sparring ring to keep up their strength.

As to the prisoners, they experienced little change. Some had attempted to escape their confinement, but it hardly worked out very well for them. While they received similar accommodations as the free Jaffa, they weren't able to choose their own food. Instead, they received the same rations they were used to and were mostly kept confined. Most of them spent their time either in Kel'no'reem or exercising in their cells. They weren't allowed to train together after the last time a conflict sprung up and the two Jaffa started fighting each other, nearly inciting a riot until Jarvis put walls between them, confining each one and herding them all to their rooms where they remained since.

I realize the isolation and lack of mental stimulation is somewhat cruel, but I'm mostly at a loss on what to do with them. I've always been a proponent of freedom of choice, but the consequence of letting any of these Jaffa go free would be for them to attempt to kill the others upon learning they were getting an education and had denounced the Goa'uld as gods. I don't want to just kill them outright either. I'd already tried providing them with the same learning materials as the others to get them to change their minds, but like Jarvis had already determined from the beginning, these particular Jaffa would not listen. They chose to follow the Goa'uld, and I would not take that choice from them by attempting to brainwash them or forcefully educating them.

I would keep my word and drop them off on a world with a Stargate as soon as possible. It would just take some time before I could do just that. I'd rather banish them than keep them imprisoned. Until their banishment though, the materials that would let them learn and allow them to make an informed decision over their own behavior will be kept available to them. But it's still their choice whether to read it, or learn from it, or whether they would rather be banished.

It took some small effort of will not to cheer when we finally dropped out of subspace within scanning range of Bes' little hidey-hole. Most Goa'uld had one to be sure. A little planet a bit out of the way where they stockpiled their own resources in preparation for their future attempt at –insert whatever fool ambition they have here-. Some were more successful than others. It really depended a lot on how far out it was, whether it had a Stargate or not, and if it was truly unknown or not.

I can't be truly certain of the last, but Bes' little bolt hole had all the hallmarks of the more successful bolt holes out there. No Stargate, and actually getting out here is luckily truly out of the way from the edge of Goa'uld space, and while it took me only six days, committing a whole month's time to go out of the way to go out beyond their borders when they're so stagnant and used to getting what they want immediately through the Stargate… No, I believe Bes' chose his hidey hole well.

What is this hidey hole? A little green blue jewel of a moon orbiting around the surprisingly small gas planet second out from this system's star. This star, named specifically by Bes as Utopia, has only three orbiting planets. One is practically Mercury 2.0. The latter two are both gas planets, with a large amount of moons each, and three separate asteroid belts, the first belt being between the two gas planets and the latter two outside of that.

As for the little habitable moon orbiting Utopia, as we got closer, scans confirmed what Bes' memories provided. The little worm had called it new Bubastis, showing just how far his ambitions went. Three major land masses, technically five if you count the two ice caps at the north and south. No sapient life forms, a small number of herbivores, and no carnivores to speak of, at least on land.

The ocean, which takes up the majority of the surface area, is a different story. Think 'waters of Naboo' and you wouldn't be too far off. There's always a bigger fish indeed. Thankfully all of the most dangerous fish don't really bother coming near the shore, preferring to stick to the deeps, and for now, I'm glad to leave it that way.

All in all, the system is perfect. It's mostly strategically unimportant to any Goa'uld for lack of resources outside of the asteroids and uninhabitable moons, but that may as well be useless to them considering their reliance on slave labor.

As for New Bubastis- which I wasn't going to call it that for another minute, even in my head, which I had now redubbed in my head as the planet Haven, just for personal nostalgia reasons. As for planet Haven, the planet itself has a few natural resources, but nothing important for a Goa'uld like Naquada, which makes this system even more perfect for my purposes. No Goa'uld would want it as they couldn't just mine anything via slave labor, next to no naquada, even in the asteroids as far as I can tell, and completely out of the way of any possible normal routes used by their empire.

Honestly, it's pretty crazy Bes even found this place at all. And he wouldn't have, if not for a fluke. Turns out having engine trouble while dealing with a saboteur from one of your rivals, hoping to fling you out into the unknown and strand you there, can actually get you lucky on occasion.

Scanning the surface of Haven, I decided to bring Manifest Destiny, which still never fails to bring a chuckle out of me, in for a landing near the center of its largest continent, aiming for a decent sized plain with a few hills with a river or two in the middle of a shallow valley, I brought her in for a landing on the most suitable hill, and immediately set my nanites to work reinforcing the area and spreading out in threads to start prepping the area for habitation.

For now, simple open air housing similar in style to what I'd created back on Chelsak-3 would suffice. That, and roads. I'd start the farms and plumbing, but considering each house literally recycles everything thanks to the nanites, I'm sure each house can get along fine with an underground water tank to start with. The houses would practically power themselves just from sucking the heat out of the air for air conditioning, the roads would provide emergency solar as necessary, and I'll have a backup power generator in my landing platform for the ship, which is currently being built. I figure the ship itself will serve as my residence, and while I'm gone, the landing platform will simply be a white pyramid of sorts. Again, for the sheer irony.

Not that a Ha'tak could land on it. I'd actually laugh if they tried. Best part is they would think they can, but then not only could the nanites take over, if the ship needed to be gotten out of the way for mine, it would simply unfold open to accept the base of my ship like a flower, tearing the offending Ha'tak into pieces.

The pyramid wouldn't just be a landing platform though. No, that's reserved for the top of it. The bottom half will, hopefully, serve well as the community center, and then central government building, for the people I plan to have here, starting with these Jaffa, who I suspect will turn to their First Prime R'san for local governance and me for ultimate authority when necessary.

That's what I'm hoping for anyway. I plan to nudge the government towards something very similar to the government of the USA, at least as a base, only without the stupid party system to muck things up. Meanwhile, I'll be in position as the people's "Champion". Basically if the government bucks up as bad as I suspect they eventually could and will, I get to come in and sweep up the place, install some new peeps, and hopefully tweak the system to fix what went wrong where necessary. It's a work in progress, but it's the best idea I've got for now.

Speaking of R'san and the Jaffa, I decided to visit their area of the ship. To be honest, it'll actually be my first time doing so. Despite wanting companionship during my time on Chelsak-3, actually making friends with these people is… daunting, to say the least. I've never really been a people person, so anytime I actually considered going over to say hello, I'd usually talk myself out of it. What would I do? Shoot the breeze? With Jaffa? Imagine doing so with Teal'c, when you're another Teal'c, and you've got an idea how well that'll go for me. Honestly, that man's lucky O'neill could carry a conversation practically by himself if he really wanted to.

Now though, I have a reason to actually go over there. So away I went, with Jarvis announcing me first to be polite, as I'm well aware they find my appearance unnerving. (so I still observed them a lot of the time, give me a break. It was that or be bored to tears a lot of the time) I quickly arrived at R'san's quarters, or I should say temporary quarters, to find him waiting outside them for me to arrive.

Coming to a stop in front of him, I considered him and his 'practically-parade-rest' stance for a moment, then said, "We've arrived at our new home."

R'san nodded. "Jarvis has kept us appraised via the news section of our tablets."

I nodded back. "That's good then. You should get ready to debark and enter the homes I've set up for you then."

"What would you have us do in the meantime?" R'san asked.

I paused, considering the question for a moment, than answered. "Live. Do as you've been doing. Be ready. This is more a change of venue than anything, and until you've reached a certain standard of education and knowledge, I won't have much use for you until you, any of you, are out of this… 'training' period. Only when you've completed that will I really have a use for you, and I honestly expect you lot to be fully autonomous for the most part. If I have to micromanage you and anyone else I pick up that would live here, well… _Not_ having to do that would honestly be the biggest help any of you could give me currently, and once you've reached a state I would consider you to be at a minimum education level, you would have several choices in front of you in which you could help against the Goa'uld, but I wouldn't, and couldn't, accept you, any of you, for field work until you've gotten rid of your biggest weakness, and that's getting Junior out of your gut."

R'san's eyes widened. "Yeah, tall order, all things considered, I know," I responded to his look, "But imagine for a moment, doing so when there are absolutely no downsides to it. You won't get sick, you won't lose your strength, and you certainly won't die. Would you do it?"

"I would," R'san answered after a moment's contemplation.

I nodded, and was about to respond, but before I could, before Jarvis could even get a warning out about what was about to happen, R'san unceremoniously jammed his arm into his symbiote pouch, grabbed and pulled out the writhing larval Goa'uld, snapped its neck and dropped it to the ground, stomping on it and grinding it under his boot.

"WHAT THE #$%!?" I shouted, gaping, immediately commanding the nanites I'd seeded in him to multiply in order to replace his already flagging immune system, as well as bolster the energy intake he needed so that he wouldn't weaken dramatically from having so suddenly losing his symbiote, which would've normally sent him into shock just by itself.

After just a moment to catch his breath from the pain I'm sure he's feeling after shoving his entire fist into himself with no warning, I once again asked, in a way I hope was a bit more eloquent, "What. The #$%. Was that!?"

It took a moment more before R'san straightened up, a dirty look at the stain of Goa'uld on the floor, which I belatedly had start being absorbed into the ground for parts. He then turned to me, his face neutral, but an easily detectable look of joy in his eyes, (Easily detectible only because I could essentially read his mind with my nanites. I swear this guy's gotta be Teal'c's great great great great grandfather or something) and responded, "I've long suspected that the larval Goa'uld I carried within could sense not only what I could see and hear, but also my thoughts as well. I knew the moment you asked if I would destroy it, I would have but a moment's time to decide, and after I chose, I would have to act quickly to not let it attempt to kill me first. I decided to trust you, and it seems my trust has not been misplaced. For I am alive, and as strong as before. No, stronger, for I have cast the yoke of my bonds from me. You claim not to be a God, that your power is purely technological, but for that act alone most of my people would consider you to be divine. Certainly more worthy of the title than any of the Goa'uld."

After considering his words, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I accept your gratitude. You're welcome. But for the love of all that's good in this verse, please don't consider me to be a God. Make it a taboo if you have to. That, more than anything, will help me more than anything you could possibly do."

"What shame would it be to you to be known as such?" R'san asked, seeing deeper into the matter than I would have expected.

After a moment, I sighed. "Look, I realize that what I'm trying to do could technically be classified as a religious war. I'm denouncing your former 'Gods' to be not Gods, and attempting to instill in you a sense of reasoning and morals to replace their dominion they had over you. I have several reasons for not wanting to be known as a 'God', first of which being that I don't ever want to be considered in the same vein as those pretenders. A being cannot be considered divine if they are without even basic morals, and the evil committed by those parasites would have them more akin to demons and devils than deities.

"Second, and more pragmatically, I am your Champion. Not your God. I would have you call upon me when things get tough, but I mean that literally, as one person to another. Not through prayer, or some mystical hoodoo that very likely won't work. I'm not perfect. I will make mistakes. A God does not, cannot, do that. And quite frankly, being considered a God is actually bad for you in the long run, as even if you have the omniscience, omnipresence, and Perfect Morality to pull it off, anyone who might consider you a God will almost always eventually stop seeing you as such when they become sufficiently advanced in their own right, and will very likely resent you for your perceived control over their lives, whether before or currently, and instinctively rebel to attempt to establish themselves as their own person. You see that everyday with parents and their children once they turn into teenagers, and it's the very rare person who _doesn't_ react that way. Also Gods can be appeased and perceived as being controlled, either through ritual sacrifices or acting subservient or some such malarkey. I cannot, and will not, be appeased by such and anyone attempting to do so will far more likely piss me off than anything else.

"And thirdly, I will not accept being considered a God for reasons that are personal, but basically boil down to my own belief in a God. One God. My God. There are no other Gods before him, and being considered a God would be a smack in the face to my own personal religious beliefs. And before you ask, No, I won't tell you what they are. Not yet at least. Not until you can tell me you seek such knowledge for your own benefit and not to simply replace some sort of perceived void in your life from a lack of a God or Gods. Faith in God is not a convenience. It is a privilege and a responsibility. One you are not ready for yet."

I stopped, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, mentally stepping off my soap box before refocusing on the man in front of me, who has a rather openly thoughtful look on his face.

"Do you understand?" I asked.

R'san nodded. "I believe I do. You have given me much to think about. I will return to my brothers and let them know that, and that we can now go to our new home. Does it have a name?"

I considered, then mentally shrugged and decided to follow the theme, even if it is a bit on the nose. "Sanctuary. The first city of hopefully many to come on the planet Haven, in the star system Utopia. And when you do go to your brothers, please tell them that they can take their time deciding what to do about their Goa'uld. I was already blocking them from perceiving anything outside their pouch and potentially influencing you already, keeping them in practically a comatose state so that all they are capable of is acting as your metabolic and immune system."

R'san nodded, a small look of chagrin entering his eyes before being replaced by determination. "I understand. By your will, I will go now?"

I nodded, "Dismissed."

As R'san walked away, and I turned around to do the same, Jarvis commented, "You know thanks to the nanites and the subspace transceiver behind your ear, if they did start praying to you, you would hear them."

I snorted. "Shut up Jarvis."


End file.
